BELLEVUE, Wash. — Newly obtained traffic camera footage shows the moment the driver of a sports car in Bellevue lost control and crashed the vehicle she was driving, killing her passenger.
The driver, 26-year-old Ting Ye, has been charged with vehicular homicide but, according to police, has left the country for China.
Traffic cameras across several intersections document the flash of a white Porsche that police say was driven by Ye on Sept. 30 around 4 a.m.
The vehicle hit a cement barricade and went airborne. Investigators say Ye, the driver, survived and her passenger, 27-year-old Yabao Liu died. According to court documents, a first responder noted the “strong odor of alcohol coming from the defendant’s breath.”
Court records allege Ye did not cooperate with investigators and has since fled to her home country of China.
Former Washington Governor and former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke points to the lack of an extradition treaty between the two countries.
“The story is not over. Yes, she was able to elude the arrest warrant, but if she were to ever travel to another country, let’s say to Europe on business or pleasure to an area, to a country that does have an extradition treaty with the United States she’ll be flagged when she enters that country by Interpol and subject to extradition back to the United States if the United States government so desires,” Locke said.
Bellevue police believe Ye was released from the hospital, crossed the border into Canada and fled to China days before the King County Prosecuting attorney’s office filed a charge of vehicular homicide. A case that has since been turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice – one that is quickly becoming a political issue rather than a legal matter.
“Is the United States willing to bargain with the Chinese government to get them to send this person back here and what is it that the Chinese government might want in return for something like that?” Seattle University Law Professor Ronald Slye said.
The victim of the accident, 27-year-old Yabao Liu, is a Chinese national with family in China and Slye speculates that the family may seek legal remedies within their country's justice system.
In a statement, the Bellevue Police Department says it’s collaborating with federal agencies and international law enforcement partners in the effort to locate and apprehend Ms. Ye. Adding that “It is imperative that she comprehends the gravity of her situation, recognizing the potential repercussions of evading the legal process.”