Suspect Arrested for I-5 Double Fatality Crash Last February

It took forever for authorities to find him, but guess where he was found!

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King County - February 26, 2023: Multi-Car Accident Reported

Last February 26, 2023, around 3 in the morning, the Washington State Patrol received a 911 call reporting a multi-car accident. The report said the accident was near the West Seattle Freeway on southbound I-5 blocking traffic. Other 911 calls were also received alerting officers that there was one unresponsive victim laying on the road and two others still in their cars that were also unresponsive. After arriving, officers right away knew not everything at the scene was what it seemed.

3 Vehicles Involved in Accident

After investigating the scene, police realized that there was another driver involved. Police think there was a two-car accident at the scene and then one of the drivers exited his vehicle to look at the damage. Then suddenly a Jeep Wrangler that was also driving southbound on I-5 struck both cars and the driver that was outside accessing the damage. When police arrived, both people unresponsive inside the cars were deceased. The man on the road had serious injuries and was transported to Harborview Medical Center. The driver of the Jeep had run off on foot and was not heard from again until recently.

Jeep Driver Suspect Turns Up After 6 Months

The case had gone cold, but detectives had narrowed the suspect to a man named Antonio Lopez. He was put on a watch list and after 6 months he finally showed up in the most unlikely of places. Authorities were tipped off when Antonio Lopez was trying to enter back into the United States from Mexico. He had managed to escape to Mexico but for some reason decided to come back to the US and was immediately captured and booked into the San Diego jail. Mr. Lopez is now awaiting extradition back to Seattle, Washington to face charges for the crash in King County. The update on the capture was released by the Washington State Patrol in a recent press release.