Carjacking accident snarls already congested freeway

A carjacking in Kirkland led to a chase by police that ended in a three-car accident on Interstate 5 in Seattle on Saturday, snarling traffic already jammed from construction on the freeway's southbound lanes.

The carjacking occurred just after noon in the 13000 block of 116th Way Northeast. A man in his 20s threatened the driver of a parked Jaguar XJ6 with a knife and demanded the Kirkland man's vehicle, according to Kirkland police.

While Kirkland police were at the scene gathering information, a Medina police officer spotted the stolen Jaguar heading west on highway 520 and chased it.

The chase continued across Lake Washington and onto I-5 southbound. It ended when the stolen car collided with two other cars and came to a stop on the freeway at Pine Street.

The driver of the stolen car was trapped inside and suffered "moderate" injuries, police said. He was arrested and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His identity was not released by police Saturday.

Another driver suffered minor injuries, said Sgt. Keith Trowbridge of the Washington State Patrol, which investigated the traffic accident.

The crash closed all southbound lanes of I-5 for about two hours, according to the State Department of Transportation. Two lanes were later reopened.

The incident occurred while traffic was already backed up because of freeway construction work that will continue through Sunday.

Three of five southbound lanes between Stewart Street and I-90 are closed for construction until 5 a.m. Monday.

State transportation officials say travel on I-5 through Seattle could take up to one hour because of congestion.

State crews are cutting apart 41 broken and cracked concrete panels and installing new stabilizing steel and concrete.