SEATTLE — A woman is in custody after allegedly smoking marijuana before her car rolled into Lake Washington over the weekend. The woman's teen sister, a passenger in the car, is "on life support" in the hospital, police said.
Police responded to the Rainier Beach boat ramp just after 5:45 p.m. Saturday evening after reports of a vehicle going into the water.
The 20-year-old driver was rescued first. She told police that she and her sister had been parked on the boat ramp when the car rolled forward, despite the transmission being in reverse. Both escaped from the vehicle, but the 17-year-old disappeared.
The driver admitted she and her sister had shared "1/2 blunt" at home, went to work and then shared another "1/2 blunt" earlier in the afternoon. Probable cause documents say the driver told police they had parked at the boat ramp "intending to smoke more marijuana but apparently this event interrupted them." Police took a blood sample from the woman at the hospital, and toxicology results are pending.
The 17-year-old passenger was rescued after about 30 minutes in the water, police said, and she was transported to the hospital in "grave" condition. A Harborview Medical Center spokesperson said the teen remains in critical condition on Monday morning.
The 20-year-old driver is scheduled to be in court on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
