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Name Not Disclosed

Age : 16

Gender : Male

Race : Unknown

Date : 08/30/2023

Location : Southeast 297th Street and 224th Avenue Southeast

City : Black Diamond

County : King

State : Washington

Agency : Black Diamond Police Department; King County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Not disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed in crash during police search following alleged armed carjacking

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/28/2023, at approximately 11:27 p.m., King County Sheriff's Office received a report of an armed carjacking near Southeast 288th Street and 228th Avenue Southeast in Maple Valley. The reporting driver said another vehicle had intentionally rear-ended his silver Hyundai. Police alleged that someone from the striking vehicle then got out with a gun and took the Hyundai. No gunfire was reported during the carjacking.
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King County deputies began searching for the Hyundai, and two Black Diamond Police Department officers responded to assist. A Black Diamond officer traveling west in the 22000 block of Southeast 296th Street saw a silver Hyundai traveling rapidly in the opposite direction. The officer slowed and turned around, but by the time the maneuver was completed, the Hyundai was no longer visible.
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The officer continued looking for the Hyundai. A King County deputy radioed that the stolen vehicle might be at Lake Sawyer Grocery, prompting officers to respond there, but the vehicle at that location was not the Hyundai they were seeking.
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A Black Diamond officer then returned toward the area where the Hyundai had last been seen. Officers found it off the roadway near Southeast 297th Street and 224th Avenue Southeast, where it had crashed into a tree. The Hyundai contained three juveniles believed to be approximately 15 to 17 years old.
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Police and firefighters attempted to save the juvenile driver. The driver was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and died. A teenage girl and teenage boy who had been passengers in the Hyundai were also transported to Harborview with life-threatening injuries; contemporary reporting described one as being in serious condition and the other in critical condition.
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The Hyundai involved in the fatal crash was subsequently determined to have previously been stolen from Kent. King County Sheriff's Office investigated the alleged armed carjacking, while Washington State Patrol investigated the fatal collision.
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Importantly, later Black Diamond Police Department records establish that this incident was not classified as a police vehicle pursuit. The department's 2023 annual report states that Black Diamond police recorded zero vehicle pursuits during 2023. It documented five incidents in which drivers continued driving after officers attempted traffic stops, but stated that officers stopped rather than initiating pursuits in each instance.
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The available chronology is consistent with that distinction. The Black Diamond officer saw the Hyundai pass in the opposite direction, turned around after it passed, but had already lost sight of it. Police then searched for the vehicle and later discovered it crashed into the tree. The available evidence therefore does not establish a continuous police pursuit immediately preceding the fatal crash.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Black Diamond officer who saw the Hyundai and turned around to locate it was not publicly identified in the available reporting.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m1YC4iC9ug
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/3-teens-suspected-carjacking-that-ended-black-diamond-crash/KX7WPDZAV5BIVFUDDVW5NTK5JY/
https://www.courierherald.com/news/three-suspected-teens-allegedly-involved-in-fatal-crash-in-black-diamond/
https://www.kentreporter.com/2023/08/29/one-juvenile-killed-two-injured-in-black-diamond-single-car-crash/
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/police-driver-dead-2-others-teens-hurt-after-armed-carjacking-in-black-diamond
https://www.blackdiamondwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4135/2023-BDPD-Annual-Report