Three-vehicle hit-and-run crash in Lacey Friday night

A three-vehicle hit-and-run car crash in the Lacey area Friday night sent a woman to the hospital and resulted in a citation for the driver who allegedly caused the collision.

The suspected driver of the inciting vehicle tried to flee the scene on foot after witnesses said he brandished a knife. The man was apprehended by Thurston County Sheriff’s deputies soon after and cited.

Sheriff’s deputies say that before the collision, a Ford Crown Victoria followed by a Chevrolet Monte Carlo were driving south in the left lane on Carpenter Road near Sixth Avenue Southeast when the Chevrolet rapidly accelerated to pass the Ford ahead of it, Sheriff’s spokesman Roland Weiss told The Olympian.

While attempting to pass the Ford, the Chevrolet entered the right lane and accelerated quickly before reentering the left lane and clipping the front right quarter of the Ford with its left rear end. The driver of the Chevrolet then overcompensated to the right, hitting the curb and then swerving left crossing into the northbound lanes of Carpenter, where it struck the front driver’s side of a Honda Accord traveling north.

At about 9:40 p.m. Friday, the Lacey Fire Department and the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the three-vehicle hit-and-run near the Lacey Safeway. Witnesses who called 911 from the scene said the driver of the inciting vehicle had tried to flee the scene wielding a knife after hitting two other vehicles.

Five minutes after receiving the call from dispatch and two minutes after arriving at the scene, sheriff’s officers contacted and then detained the suspect as he was walking north up Carpenter Road. He was then given a misdemeanor citation by officers for the hit and run.

Weiss said debris from the accident was scattered across 400 yards of the roadway, but he said it was not clear if the debris was from the force of the impact or if the Chevrolet had strewn it about as it continued to drive south. The Chevrolet and Honda were both towed away from the scene and it took crews roughly 90 minutes to clear up Carpenter Road.

According to Weiss, the suspect was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital for evaluation. The two victims both had minor injuries but only the driver of the Honda Accord was taken by private vehicle to St. Peter where she was interviewed by officers.

A complete report hadn’t been filed Saturday by TCSO, Weiss said.