Teens arrested in wreck that killed semi-truck driver in Lakewood charged as juveniles
Two teenagers were charged Friday in Pierce County Juvenile Court for allegedly fleeing from Lakewood police after a robbery, then colliding into a semi-truck, killing its driver.
The boys, both 16, were taken to hospitals following the collision Thursday morning at an on-ramp to southbound Interstate 5 from Berkeley Street Southwest, near American Lake. The semi-truck driver, a 57-year-old Tacoma man, was transported to Madigan Army Medical Center where he died of his injuries.
Prosecutors charged one boy with vehicular homicide and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle. The other was charged with taking a motor vehicle without permission. The News Tribune typically names people formally charged with a crime but is not doing so in this case because the defendants are being charged as juveniles.
Pleas of not guilty were entered on behalf of both defendants — called respondents in juvenile court — at arraignment Friday in a courtroom at Remann Hall, the county’s juvenile detention center. Prosecutors recommended that both the alleged driver and passenger remain in custody until a release-supervision plan is formalized, citing concerns for community safety and an ongoing robbery investigation.
Pro tem Commissioner Alex Kirigin ordered the respondents to remain in custody until further detention review hearings.
The alleged driver’s grandmother, Leaella Swan, told the court her grandson is a good kid who has a large family to support him. She said she’s raised him for 14 years but that he’d recently been staying with his father.
“This is his first mistake, and hopefully it will be his last,” Swan said. “He just needs a chance to get on the right track and make better decisions with the company he keeps and the decisions he makes. So he’s accountable and very remorseful for what he’s done.”
Court records show the boy’s father has at least 12 prior felony convictions and has twice been sentenced to prison.
Lakewood Police Department assistant chief John Unfred said Thursday that officers began to pursue the teenagers at about 5:35 a.m. when they spotted a vehicle suspected to be connected to the armed robbery of a convenience store overnight on Tacoma’s 6th Avenue. He said the two crashed into the semi-truck just seconds after they fled from police.
An investigation into the collision conducted by the Washington State Patrol found the teenagers were eastbound on Lakewood’s Freedom Bridge in a 2020 Kia Sportage when the driver struck the tractor-trailer, which was going south on a collector-distributor road, according to a news release. Trooper John Dattilo said the Kia driver ran a red light at the intersection and hit the front right side of the truck, causing it to lose control and jackknife.
Police said the impact ejected the semi-truck driver onto the freeway below. State troopers found he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Officers reportedly pulled him to safety and began measures to try to save his life, but court records say he was bloodied and wasn’t breathing. He hasn’t yet been identified by the medical examiner.
Traffic was jammed for miles on southbound Interstate 5 as a result of the wreck. Two gates for Joint Base Lewis-McChord were blocked, the tractor-trailer’s load spilled onto the freeway, including four 14,000-plus pound rolls of aluminum foil, and fire crews had to contain a fuel spill.
Unfred said the crash was an example of a sharp increase in juvenile violent crime the police department has seen in the last year. He said armed robberies and vehicle thefts committed by people under age 18 have gone up “100 to 200 percent” in Lakewood.
“We have young juveniles, 15, 16, sometimes even younger committing violent crimes, fleeing at high rates of speed. And it has tragic consequences. Today an innocent civilian lost his life, and we’re very concerned about this trend with juveniles committing violent crime,” Unfred said.
Armed robbery of 7-Eleven
The robbery the teenagers allegedly committed occurred at about 12:45 a.m. and involved five people wearing masks who entered a 7-Eleven at 3115 6th Ave., according to police and the store’s owner. Several were armed with handguns and pointed the weapons at a cashier and a customer.
The owner, Sunny Singh, told The News Tribune that first two people entered, then three more. He said the robbers displayed their guns and then took cash along with cigarettes and tobacco. Two customers were inside, and Singh said they told one to give them his car keys.
“He refused, and they pointed the gun at him,” Singh, 39, said. “They tried to actually shoot, fire at him but luckily, thankfully, the gun was jammed or something and then it didn’t go through. And they pointed it at my employee as well, demanding the same thing. And the gun didn’t work, and then they ended up leaving the store.”
Singh said he’s owned the business for more than five years, and after the coronavirus pandemic, he started seeing huge increases in both petty theft and more serious incidents. He said his store has been robbed three times in the last four weeks, and he thinks it’s all teenagers.
“It is scary,” Singh said. “My employee, he said he can no longer do this, and I totally agree with him. His safety is priority. I mean I feel whatever he’s going through, he’s suffered this thing three times in a row.”
The Tacoma Police Department is investigating the robbery. Detective William Muse, a spokesperson for the department, said Friday that no other suspects have been arrested in connection to it.
Suspect vehicle flees police, crashes
The robbery was captured on surveillance video, according to charging documents, and a Lakewood police officer recognized one of the individuals, believing he lived in the Tillicum area.
The officer noted there were basically two ways in and out of Tillicum, and two police units set up at the locations to look for a black Kia Sportage associated with the robbery. Court documents say it was recently stolen in a Fife carjacking.
Just after 5:30 a.m., the officer saw the Kia approaching at 15401 Union Ave. SW and began following it. Records state the car started to make erratic turns, and police reportedly thought it was likely the driver saw their patrol vehicle.
The driver turned onto the Freedom Bridge over Interstate 5 and began to drive at a high rate of speed, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. The officer turned on his lights and sirens, but the driver continued through an intersection and struck the semi-truck.
This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 4:41 PM.
