SEATTLE — The driver of a car that crashed into a building in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood Wednesday morning, igniting a fire has been arrested.
The 49-year-old suspect is believed to have been in crisis and may have been under the influence of narcotics, according to the Seattle Police Department (SPD).
He is being investigated for DUI, property damage, obstruction and hit-and-run.
The Seattle Fire Department tweeted just before 7 a.m. that emergency crews were responding to a car collision into a building near the 700 block of South Michigan Street.
Crews upgraded the incident to a two-alarm fire and were able to extinguish the fire around 7:10 a.m.
A spokesperson for Seattle Fire said the driver was not inside the vehicle and was reportedly two blocks away from the scene when firefighters arrived.
“That’s one of the reasons why we added additional resources because we had a patient that was approximately two blocks away,” the spokesperson told KING 5. “So we needed additional resources for that person, plus, to check inside the building for any possible victims.”
The driver ran from officers and refused to follow commands, according to police. He was taken into custody several blocks from the building.
The driver was taken to Harborview Medical Center in stable condition, officials said. He will be treated for self-inflicted lacerations, according to police.
Once the suspect is released from the hospital, police said he would be booked in King County jail.
The crash caused an estimated $185,000 in damages.
All lanes of South Michigan Street were closed between 4th Avenue South to Corson Avenue South for about two hours while first responders were on the scene. The Seattle Department of Transportation said all eastbound and westbound lanes were open to traffic by 9 a.m.
No other injuries have been reported at this time.
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