DUI suspect killed in jump off SR 520 Bridge

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SEATTLE — The Washington State Patrol says a DUI suspect was killed in a jump off the SR 520 Bridge into Lake Washington in Seattle early Friday.

WSP District 2 Commander Ron Mead said a trooper pulled over a driver on eastbound SR 520 at the west high rise at 1:37 a.m. for suspicion of DUI , handcuffed him and placed him into custody.

As the trooper was trying to put the man into the patrol car, the man resisted and intentionally jumped off the bridge into the lake at 1:54 a.m., according to WSP.  Mead said the trooper tried to hold onto the suspect's leg, but the momentum was too great and the man plunged 65 to 75 feet into the lake.

The man was retrieved by the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol at 2:36 a.m. and he was transported to Harborview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at about 3:30 a.m.

The man, who was 31, was from Kirkland.

The Seattle Police Department is investigating the incident.

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