Olympia driver allegedly sends another car spinning, flees scene

An Olympia man allegedly sent another vehicle spinning, causing injury to the driver, then fled the scene of the collision.

Olympia police arrested Otto G Alvarez, 35, after a reported hit and run at the intersection of Martin Way E and Sleater Kinney Road NE on Saturday, March 26.

A witness said she was driving through the intersection when a maroon car, later identified as the suspect’s Honda, “came rapidly out of the Jack in the Box parking lot, striking the blue Toyota and slamming it into the middle of the road. Driver fled the scene.”

The Toyota driver was holding his neck and swaying back and forth when police arrived, one officer noted.

The driver said he was traveling west on Martin Way through the intersection on Sleater Kinney Road when the suspect’s vehicle exited the Jack in the Box parking lot at a high speed and struck his rear bumper, sending him spinning.

The suspect continued driving west on Martin Way while the Toyota was still spinning, the driver said, causing the blue vehicle to get hit again in the driver’s side.

The driver was placed in a neck brace and brought to Providence St. Peter Hospital.

Suspect located minutes later

Alvarez’ car was located west of the earlier crash. Dispatchers said his vehicle became “disabled” at the intersection of Martin Way E and Lilly Road SE, at which point the suspect fled on foot.

Witnesses later saw Alvarez run into an apartment complex on Martin Way.

Police knocked on the door of one unit where they suspected Alvarez went. While waiting for a response, they saw Alvarez headed out on a bicycle and arrested him without incident.

When the tenant of the concerned unit answered the door, one officer recognized him from previous contacts. The tenant was initially “aggressive” with police but eventually allowed them to search his apartment, where they found “clothing that matched the clothing that Alverez was wearing at the time of the alleged hit-and-run incident.

Alvarez was booked at the Thurston County Jail for hit and run.