Update: Man arrested in hit and run, reported vehicle as stolen

A different suspect drove through the multi-car collision scene, traveling in the wrong direction.

By Kailan Manandic • August 24, 2018 3:50 pm
The suspect’s vehicle lost an entire wheel and broke a rear axle while ramming through three vehicles. Photo courtesy of the Bothell Police Department
The suspect’s vehicle lost an entire wheel and broke a rear axle while ramming through three vehicles. Photo courtesy of the Bothell Police Department

Police identified and arrested the suspect of a multi-vehicle hit and run incident after he fled the scene and falsely reported his vehicle stolen.

Elliot Shaw, 57, was arrested on the afternoon of Aug. 24 after he was identified as the suspect and owner of a vehicle that plowed into three other vehicles while they were stopped at traffic lights. The collision resulted in minor injuries and occurred around 11 p.m. on Bothell-Everett Highway near I-405, police reported.

The suspect reportedly hit the first victim while they were stopped and continued on to hit two other vehicles further down the road. One vehicle was stopped at a red light in the southbound lanes when the vehicle slammed into it from behind, continued into the intersection and hit the other vehicle that was waiting at the same red light in the northbound lanes.

The incident was witnessed by three bystanders who saw the suspect flee the scene on foot.

Police were still investigating the scene about two hours later when the suspect traveled southbound through the closed and barricaded scene in the northbound lanes.

Washington State Patrol troopers assisted in stopping the driver and detaining him for DUI, police reported.

Police cleared the scene and opened the highway around 2:45 a.m.

According to witnesses, the suspect was wearing flip flops and fled through blackberry bushes. Police attempted to track the suspect with a K9 unit but failed.

Shaw reported that his vehicle was stolen to Snohomish County Sheriffs the next day.

A Snohomish County deputy responded to Shaw’s report and found that he was acting suspiciously and would not make eye contact, according to the police report. After noticing Shaw’s vehicle was impounded following a hit and run, the deputy reported Shaw to Bothell Police, who had already been attempting to contact Shaw.

Police later detained Shaw after finding scratches along his forearms and feet, consistent with scratches the suspect would have received while fleeing through blackberry bushes.

BPD investigated further based on witness reports and found that Shaw was allegedly cut off from drinking earlier that evening, according to the police report. An officer followed up with a local business on Aug. 24 that Shaw had been drinking at and the manager immediately recognized him as a guest from the previous night.

Shaw was subsequently booked and transported into Snohomish County on a citation for hit and run attended vehicle.