Kent Police help rescue driver in burning vehicle after pursuit

Published 2:15 pm Monday, March 30, 2026

Kent Police officers rescued a driver trapped in a burning vehicle that went down an embankment during a pursuit following a reported assault at the Safeway store along Washington Avenue South.

An officer was dispatched Saturday evening, March 28 to a report of a man assaulting the Safeway manager at 210 Washington Ave. S., according to a March 30 Kent Police Facebook post. He then received an update that the suspect had fled the parking lot in a Honda.

The officer saw the vehicle leaving the parking lot, pulled a U-turn to follow it and activated his emergency lights, but the driver continued to flee, according to police.

A second officer joined the pursuit which eventually headed up Reiten Road on Scenic Hill and past the Hillcrest Burial Park cemetery. Another officer, in anticipating the vehicle’s path, set up strike sticks in the 25800 block of 104th Avenue SE, which caught one of the suspect vehicle’s tires, according to police. The driver slowed but didn’t stop. At that point the chase had covered about 4 miles, according to google.com maps.

The driver travelled back down Reiten Road, misjudged a turn, and drove the car through a chain-link fence and down an embankment, according to police. Three officers were right behind him and when they jumped out of their cars, they could see a fire starting under the vehicle’s hood. They grabbed the fire extinguishers from their cars and rapidly descended into the ravine.

While officers were putting out the fire, other officers tried to break into what was left of the vehicle to remove the driver from danger, according to police. At this point it was unknown if the driver was armed or the extent of his injuries.

Officers put the fire out, but due to the extensive damage to the car, they could not extricate the driver to deliver aid, according to police. All the airbags had deployed during the collision, and the doors were crunched shut. The driver was in and out of consciousness and could not exit the car on his own.

Puget Sound Fire responded and cut the suspect, a 39-year-old Kent man, from the vehicle. Medics were on scene as well and the man was unconscious but breathing when contacted. They pulled him up the hill in a gurney and transported him to a local hospital for treatment.

Officers reported that despite the condition of the vehicle, the driver did not appear to have significant or life-threatening injuries, according to police.

While medics treated the man, officers reported that the driver reportedly was under the influence of alcohol. A warrant was later authorized by a judge to determine the man’s blood alcohol level.

The Safeway store manager, a 21-year-old Kent man, told officers that the man had attempted to purchase beer, but when they noticed he appeared to be intoxicated, they refused to sell it to him, according to police. The man reportedly became irate, was aggressive to one of the female clerks, and then assaulted the manager.

Video evidence inside the store corroborated the manager’s story, according to police. At one point the man reportedly needed to be held back from assaulting the manager a second time.

Officers arrested the man for investigation of DUI, eluding and charges related to the assaulting the manager and attempting to steal alcohol.

Several officers had scrapes and bruises from climbing down into the ravine.

“Their quick actions, teamwork, and calm heads probably saved the life of the suspect,” according to a police statement.