MILL CREEK — A Mill Creek man driving without a license crashed into a taxi filled with passengers in downtown Seattle, killing a 74-year-old woman, according to new charges.
King County prosecutors charged Aboubacarr Singhateh with vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault on Tuesday.
Around noon on May 23, Singhateh, 25, was driving a 2011 Ford F-150 in downtown Seattle, according to the charges filed in King County Superior Court. The registered owner of the truck was sitting in the passenger seat. Singhateh was not licensed to drive.
Singhateh was speeding through the city streets, spewing smoke from his car, witnesses reported. The speed limit was 25 mph. Singhateh was reportedly driving around 47 mph.
He slammed into the back of a taxi stopped at a red light at the intersection of S Washington Street and Fourth Avenue S. The taxi had picked up four passengers — all over 70 years old, according to court documents.
According to data obtained from the truck, the vehicle was at “full acceleration” 1½ seconds before the collision, prosecutors wrote. Police found no evidence of Singhateh braking prior to the crash.
The crash pushed the taxi forward approximately 150 feet. All of the passengers were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to a police report.
Suzanne Blake, 74, suffered “catastrophic” injuries and died that day, prosecutors wrote.
The other three suffered serious injuries: a woman, 74, suffered significant head trauma and required life-saving surgery; another woman, 75, suffered broken ribs, a broken pelvis and a severe facial laceration; and a man, 77, suffered internal injures.
Officers suspected Singhateh was impaired by drugs, court documents said. Police served a warrant to extract his blood. Investigators were awaiting the results of Singhateh’s toxicology report Wednesday.
Singhateh had no previous criminal or traffic history, according to court papers. An arraignment is scheduled for June 10, after Singhateh did not appear for his first hearing.
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
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