On Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 at 5:10 p.m., a suspected DUI driver hit two small children who were riding in a battery operated Barbie Jeep on the shoulder of the road before taking off.
The kids, a 3-year old girl and a 5-year old boy, were riding in a battery-powered kid’s “toy” car on the grassy shoulder of a residential road located near the 19800 block of SE 281st Street in unincorporated Kent (map below).
The King County Sheriff’s Office says that a 26-year old male, driving a maroon pickup eastbound on SE 281st when he veered off the road, struck a mailbox and then hit the kids.
The children were knocked out of the Jeep, and the suspect continued driving with most of the Jeep still wedged under his truck. The suspect drove to his home, about a half mile away, and parked in the driveway. With the help of several witnesses, Deputies located the suspect vehicle. When deputies approached, they located the suspect still in the driver’s seat with the small Jeep still wedged under his truck. The driver had a strong odor of alcohol and was arrested.
Once a search warrant for blood was complete, the suspect was booked into King County Jail on two counts of Investigation of Vehicular Assault.
The children are being treated at a local hospital for fairly serious injuries.
These 3 DUI crashes happened in South King County – one just outside of Kent. Safe roads are up to all of us. We are all just trying to get from one place to another safe and sound. #PlanBeforeYouParty #DriveSoberOrGetPulledOver patrols going on now. https://t.co/llk6smnKOv
— Kent Police (@kentpd) August 26, 2020
