Pickup hits driver of parked ambulance

Seattle

An ambulance driver was struck and injured on southbound Interstate 5 about 1:30 a.m. Sunday after parking the vehicle on the shoulder to fix a flat tire. The accident happened just north of the Boeing Access Road.

David C. Marston had set out flares and was returning to the ambulance when a 1997 Ford pickup hit him and the ambulance. A paramedic inside the ambulance was not injured, according to the general manager of Rural/Metro Ambulance in Mountlake Terrace.

Marston, 32, was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of a broken thighbone, broken arm and internal injuries. He was reported in satisfactory condition Sunday morning.

The pickup driver, a 24-year-old woman from Austin, Texas, was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular assault, according to the State Patrol. She has not been charged.

Seattle

Beacon Hill house fire investigated as arson

A house fire Saturday morning on Beacon Hill was arson, the Seattle Fire Department said. No details were released about why the fire is being investigated as arson.

One person was inside the single-story house on South Bayview Street when neighbors reported the fire to 911 around 10:30 a.m.

No one was injured, but damage totaled about $120,000 to the house and its contents.

Seattle

Assault with hammer sends man to hospital

A young man apparently was attacked with a hammer Sunday evening during a street fight at Third Avenue and Pine Street, but it was unclear what provoked the assault or whether the man knew his alleged attacker, said Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel.

Police arrested a man in his 30s, while the victim, in his 20s, was taken to Harborview Medical Center with a head injury after the 5:20 p.m. assault, Kappel said.

A witness said the victim was attacked with a hammer, which police found in the street. Late Sunday, police were trying to reconcile conflicting accounts. The suspect was booked for investigation of assault, Kappel said.

Seattle

3-car crash on I-5 ties up traffic

Traffic in both directions of Interstate 5 was stopped for nearly an hour Sunday afternoon after a three-car accident that left a light pole across the northbound lanes at Spokane Street, the State Patrol said.

The accident occurred at 4:29 p.m., during heavy traffic from the Mariners' game. Trooper Jeff Merrill said a Chrysler LeBaron driven by Kevin L. Ross, 45, of Seattle, collided with a Honda Civic, which then hit a Honda Accord.

The Accord flipped over the median and crashed into the light pole. Trooper Jeff Merrill said the driver of the Civic went to the hospital with a hand injury.

Ross was cited for not having car insurance and for making an unsafe lane change, he said.

Times staff and news services