1 person dead, King County deputy hurt in South Seattle crash

SEATTLE — King County sheriff’s deputy was hurt and another person was killed in a crash in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood Saturday afternoon.

The crash happened on Airport Way South at South Doris Street around 12:20 p.m. and involved four different cars.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Ryan Abbott said the deputy was taken to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.

Seattle Police is handling the investigation.

They said the deputy apparently had some kind of medical episode and lost control of his patrol truck.

Exactly what happened, though, is still unknown.

Given that this investigation involves a fellow law enforcement officer, Seattle police pledged an honest and open investigation.

“We get one shot at this and we owe it to the victim’s family so we can positively say what happened,” said Sgt. Patrick Michaud, Seattle Police.

The crash happened just feet away from a Yoga studio owned by Joel Benjamin.

“Because I’ve heard a lot of accidents, I know that this one was different than any of the other ones I had heard,” he told KIRO 7 News.

Within seconds of the crash, Benjamin said a man bolted out of a nearby pet store to discover that his wife had been killed in the chain reaction crash.

According to witnesses, the woman had been waiting inside a car as her husband purchased dog food.

“His expressions of grief were — I’m not going to be able to unhear them,” Benjamin stated. “It was just heartbreaking.”

Cox Media Group