Local News

A 77-year-old Issaquah man accidentally backed over a woman this morning, killing her, after she got out of his car following a minor traffic accident, Renton police said.

The man was driving a 1995 Mercedes-Benz west on North Park Drive just before 10:30 a.m. when he was involved in a minor collision at Garden Avenue North, police said. The woman, a passenger in the Mercedes, got out of the car to flag down traffic, according to police.

As the woman walked behind the Mercedes, the driver backed up, running over her. His car then rolled forward and hit a commercial truck, police said.

The driver was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment and evaluation.

The victim, who was related to the driver, was apparently a visitor from overseas, according to Renton police.  Her home city and exact age were not immediately known.

Renton police are investigating a fatal shooting.

Police Detective Robert Onishi said that officers responded at 12:01 a.m. to the 1400 block of Harrington Avenue Southeast after a 911 caller reported seeing a man in the street. The caller told dispatchers there was a rifle near the body and a large amount of blood, Onishi said.

“Officers found a deceased male laying in the middle of the roadway holding a rifle,” Onishi said. ”The male had injuries consistent with a short range gunshot, and initial indications are that the shooting was self-inflicted.”

Police are asking witnesses to call 425-430-7500.

A woman robbed a Key Bank branch in Renton this afternoon and then told bank employees she would wait outside for police.

She did and was promptly arrested.

Renton police said the 23-year-old woman walked into the bank in the Renton Highlands around 4:22 p.m. and demanded money from a teller. After grabbing the cash the woman told employees she would await the arrival of police.

When officers arrived they found the woman outside the building along with the bank’s manager.

The woman was arrested and later told detectives she had robbed the bank because she wanted to be arrested.  Police said she would be booked into jail on investigation of robbery.

A man who was reportedly arguing with a Renton police officer on Southwest Grady Way last night was struck by an alleged drunken driver

Police say that the pedestrian suffered head injuries after being hit by a Honda CRV in the 1100 block of Southwest Grady Way around 9 p.m.

Before the accident, the man had created some type of disturbance and was refusing to get out of the roadway, police said. As officers approached the man he turned and squared off in a “fighting stance,” according to police.

The officer remained in the roadway calling for backup when he saw the Honda heading right toward them. The officer was able to jump out of the way, but the man was struck.

He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for unknown injuries police said.

The Honda driver, who was not hurt, was arrested for investigation of DUI.

Update 6:07  p.m.| Diana Gould was found safe in South Seattle this  evening,  according to  Renton Police Department Detective Robert Onishi.

The Renton Police Department wants help in finding an 82-year-old woman missing from a relative’s apartment in the 900 block of Harrington Avenue Northeast.

The woman, Diana Gould, left the apartment in the morning or early afternoon today and her family is concerned because she doesn’t usually leave on her own and recently moved to the area.

She’s described as 5-feet, 6-inches, 165 pounds and usually wearing a short, blonde wig.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the Renton Police Department at 425-430-7500.

Renton police are searching for Dang Nguyen, who has been missing since Saturday (Renton Police Department photo)

The Renton Police Department is searching for 39-year-old Dang H. Nguyen, whose family and friends have been trying to locate him since Saturday.

Nguyen left his workplace on the 300 block of Rainier Avenue North at about 3 p.m. on Saturday and has not returned home since, according to Renton police.

He’s described as a 5-foot-5 Asian male weighing about 125 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue button-up shirt and khaki pants and may be driving a white Dodge pickup, Washington license B71118P.

Anyone with more information about Nguyen is asked to call 911 or the Renton Police Department at 425-430-7500.

A developmentally disabled man the Renton Police Department had been looking for since last week was found at a homeless youth center in Seattle this afternoon.

Marcel Davis, Jr., 20, is now reunited with his family. Davis left a relative’s Renton home last Wednesday with a backpack, but no cash, cellphone or other means of obtaining food and shelter.

The victim of a hit-and-run accident in Renton on Tuesday has died from his injuries, police said.

The victim, Oscar Stevens, 54, died at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. 

Stevens was found just before 6 a.m. on the side of a road after he was apparently struck by a vehicle, police said.   

Renton police are asking anyone who may have seen Stevens prior to the arrival of officers to call the department at 425-430-7500, and refer to case 12-4424.

A man received life-threatening injuries when he was hit by a car in Renton this morning. Police are seeking witnesses to find out who struck him.

Police said they were called to Northeast Sunset Boulevard and Hoquiam Avenue Northeast at 5:49 a.m. for a report of an injured man on the side of the road. When officers arrived in the East Renton Highlands neighborhood they found the man, who was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Police are investigating the crash as a hit-and-run. Anyone who saw what happened is asked to call police at 425-430-7500.

Renton police say a series of inadvertent cellphone calls to emergency dispatchers by suspected thieves while they were searching for cars to prowl has led to the arrest of one man.

The first call was placed on March 14 to Valley Communications, the emergency dispatch center for several South King County law enforcement and fire agencies. The dispatch center’s call receiver got no answer when she tried to determine the nature of the call, but she heard voices in the background, according to a Renton police news release. 

The call receiver realized that the call was an open-line call, also known as a “pocket dial,” or “butt dial.” She believed that the males she heard on the other end of the call were looking for cars to steal, Renton police said. The 911 system showed that the call came from downtown Renton. 

The males remained on the line for 44 minutes as they apparently drove through the Renton area and discussed what kind of cars to target, and what kind of property they could get from the cars, police said. The main voice heard on the call belonged to a male who instructed the driver on how to position their vehicle so he could jump out, “jiggle the key” and take the car, according to police.

Police were unable to locate the source of the call. However, when Renton police Officer Wayne Blackard responded to a report of a stolen Toyota 4-Runner from downtown Renton a few hours later, he realized that the theft was likely related to the earlier 911 call, police said. 

Four days later, Valley Communications received two additional 911 calls from the same phone number. In one call, the same male voice was heard arguing with another male as the sound of a racing car engine could be heard in the background, police said. The male could be heard discussing the same 4-Runner that had been stolen following the first call, according to police. 

The call receiver dispatched police to find the vehicle by tracking the call. Officer Eric Stevens found an abandoned Honda which had been reported stolen earlier in the day from Burien, police said.

On April 1, police were sent to an apartment complex in the Renton Highlands after dispatchers received a fourth inadvertent 911 call from the same cellphone. An officer spotted an occupied car in the lot. One of the passengers, 40-year-old Wesley Strom, told Stevens that his cellphone sometimes called 911 for no apparent reason, police said.

Stevens confirmed that Strom’s cell number matched all four of the 911 calls, and that Strom lived next to the site where the stolen Honda had been found. He also learned that Strom had a warrant for his arrest.

Strom was arrested and charged with possession of the stolen 4-Runner and the stolen Honda. He remains in custody in lieu of $70,000 bail.