Forgotten car fouls ferry run

EDMONDS – He drove on the ferry Spokane but walked off to his job in downtown Edmonds, leaving behind suspicion and disruption and his car.

Ferry workers found the abandoned vehicle parked aboard the Spokane about 7:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Unsure where the driver was – or if the empty car was indication of an accident, a suicide or something worse – the crew notified the Washington State Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard, spurring an emergency response.

They also called the crew of the incoming ferry Puyallup to look for someone in the water as they pulled up to the terminal, said State Patrol Sgt. Craig Johnson.

Edmonds police did a quick check of the car, and the ferry was moved out of the terminal to make room for the Puyallup, Johnson said. The ferry missed one round-trip run to the Kingston terminal while the trouble was sorted out, ferry officials said.

Just as a State Patrol bomb crew arrived, the car’s owner showed up to reclaim the abandoned vehicle.

He told officials he’d simply forgotten that he’d driven on the ferry that morning. The man is usually a walk-on passenger, Johnson said.

“It actually happens more than you think,” Johnson said.

The man is unlikely to be billed for his forgetfulness, said Susan Harris-Huether, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Ferries.

The driver realized that he had left his car on the boat after his boss acted surprised to see him show up on time at his downtown Edmonds job, Harris-Huether said. Apparently his boss had heard that there was a delay at the ferry terminal because someone had left a car on the boat.

The man realized that he was responsible for the furor, and he ran back to the terminal, she said.

Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.