(Image: SOMA Kombucha with permission to CHS)
Reports of a car chase and gunfire culminated in a crash caught on security video as a SUV smashed through the front of a self-serve kombucha taproom on E Pike early Monday.
Capitol Hill’s SOMA Kombucha will remain closed after extensive damage to its storefront. The neighboring HoneyHole sandwich joint sustained some damage to its shared wall but is expected to open as usual.
A Seattle Police Department spokesperson said a report on the incident was not yet complete but CHS has learned the crash involved at least one vehicle in pursuit of the SUV before the crash and reports of gunfire.
UPDATE: SPD says the driver of the crashed car was “with his girlfriend, fleeing from her pimp.”
“The pimp threatened them at the scene of the crash and forced the woman into his vehicle,” SPD’s brief on the incident says. “Officers quickly found this vehicle and the woman a few blocks away. The suspect exited the car before officers arrived and fled on foot.”
SPD says there was reported gunfire but officers did not find evidence of a shooting.
No arrests have been made at this time.
According to East Precinct radio updates, officers arriving at the 4:19 AM crash were looking for a caller who reportedly was on his way to the hospital with some type of hand injury in a dispute involving possible human trafficking.
Police reported having at least one reported adult victim in custody and were looking for a suspect who fled the scene. A Land Rover or Range Rover was also reported to have been involved in the incident but was not the car that crashed into the building.
We do not have further information on injuries.
Seattle Fire was called to evaluate the damage in the 700 block of E Pike after the crashed vehicle was towed and found the building to be structurally sound despite the damage.
There were no injuries reported inside the businesses.
An involved vehicle was also reported towed from Summit Ave.
An apparently unrelated road rage incident was reported two hours later in Montlake. There, police were called to the area near NOAA around 6:30 AM to a report of a driver in a blue Range Rover honking, yelling threats, and trying to strike people and vehicles. That vehicle was last reported speeding away eastbound on 520.
Jean-Pierre Parent who opened the self-serve concept SOMA Kombucha on E Pike earlier this year, says a car also once ran into his shop in Portland. That damage was much more limited and they were able to reopen quickly.
While this crash will take longer to recover from, SOMA might be able to get a boost from city funding CHS reported on as local merchants have dealt with a wave of burglaries and break-ins. Applicants can request up to $3,000 for repairs or $6,000 for security and prevention investments through the city’s $3.3 million Back to Business program.
$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🖤
Cars shouldn’t be going that fast to lose control like that around there. Need speed bumps.
I’m sure the human traffickers will take note of the need for human safety.
Well, you can’t deny it’s very unprofessional. Especially during a storm. The roads are wet. Kidnapping has really gone down hill.
While I generally would support more speed bumps to help hamper random jackasses that like racing through roads here, I’m not sure just a couple speed bumps would’ve been a meaningful factor here for preventing a car from going too fast in a kidnapping-related vehicular chase with gunfire involved.
I’m glad it was at the least busy time of day. I live around the corner and that intersection is busy and heavily populated all day long. It could have been one more tragedy…
speed bumps…? did you read the article, or even the headline? “car chase and gunfire,” human trafficking?
Whoah. That is nuts. I guess it’s lucky they crashed into that specific store, since I’ve never seen an actual human being inside.
It’s definitely grim/mean, but that’s where my head went as well: maybe a blessing in disguise for the owners to collect some insurance money and cut their losses…
for real, I’ve wondered. I hope the owner takes the opportunity to consider a redesign/reconcept because it really didn’t look that inviting (too bright maybe? seating looked iffy too.)
Human trafficking, gunfire Capitol Hill is out-of-control midnight to 5am. Street take-overs, murders and mayhem. $3,000… good luck with that.
S O S
S O S
S O S
S O Pike Pine
Unless you have specific info, you can’t even say whether any of this began here let alone make any claims regarding Cap Hill.
If we got some Bruce mass surveillances? We’d have that baby from EVERY angle.
Can the report be any more vague? We still don’t know why the suv actually went into the store? Were they on their way to hospital? Were police pursuing them? Why drive into a storev
do you think the perpetrators had pre-written an explanation of their actions when they crashed into this building and got into a shootout? incidents like this take time to understand. it happened at 4 am and this article went up before 10. there are updates now but come on.
Thanks d.c. — It’s ok. It’s good for people to think about how the news works.
guess this is how i find out this store exists…. literally pass by a lot but is kombucha even that hot for a whole storefront?? that city grant is only gonna cover a fraction of it….
A real shame about Parent’s poor fortune. Looks like the result of a high speed chase S. on Boylston given the angle of impact. Odd. Should be quite a story once this is pieced together.