Officers with the Seattle Police Department detained a driver who they suspected was intoxicated following a rollover incident into Lake Washington Saturday evening that gravely injured a teenage girl.
According to Detective Brian Pritchard of SPD Public Affairs, officers arrested a 20-year-old woman on Saturday evening for her role in a rollover crash into Lake Washington in South Seattle’s Rainier Valley neighborhood that gravely injured a 17-year-old girl.
The girl remained in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center as of Sunday morning. The woman faces vehicular assault charges as a result of the accident.
According to police, shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday, officers went to the Atlantic City Boat Ramp on Seward Park Avenue South to investigate complaints of a car buried in water.
Officers and paramedics from Seattle Fire responded at the ramp and discovered a 20-year-old woman on the shore in stable condition. She informed rescue personnel that a 17-year-old girl was still in the water.
Divers from SFD and SPD harbor patrol officers went into the water in search of the girl, who was found unresponsive. Paramedics began CPR and transported her to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.
Following an examination by the Traffic Collision Examination Squad and SPD officers, police discovered that the woman and girl had parked at the ramp before the collision. However, the driver crashed and slid into the water. The driver got out of the car through a window, followed by the girl, who was unable to swim to shore.
According to police, the driver displayed indicators of impairment. She was arrested at the scene for vehicular assault.
KIRO 7 contacted Pritchard to learn why the car crashed, and he stated that an operator error led it to dive into the sea. There were no more details to share at this time.