KENT, Wash. — One man is dead after being struck by a stolen trailer and excavator during a rollover crash in Kent early Saturday morning.
Kent Police Department officers responded to the 12000 block of SW 236th Street for reports of a driver fleeing from a truck and trailer crashed into a ditch, according to police.
While on the way to that incident, an officer noticed a truck towing an excavator on a trailer driving erratically and hit a stop sign.
The driver then lost control of the trailer and excavator, which rolled over and detached from the truck, police said. The truck driver got out of the vehicle, then got back into the truck and fled the scene, police said.
At the crash scene, officers found a man who was injured in the rollover crash because he was on the trailer or excavator when it crashed. The 29-year-old Kent resident died as a result of severe head and chest injuries, police said. Officers found the man was also in possession of a stolen gun, according to police.
Kent police located the abandoned truck used to tow the trailer and excavator, learning that it had been stolen from within Kent earlier Saturday morning.
The driver of the stolen truck was not located. The Kent Police Traffic Unit is investigating the fatal crash.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the KPD tip line at 253-856-5808 or call the non-emergency dispatch line at 253-852-2121. People can also email tips or information to the Kent Police Department by contacting KPDTipLine@kentwa.gov.