Sierra Waff and her 10-year-old son were crossing a street in Seattle’s Chinatown International District early Monday morning when the driver of a black Mercury sedan struck the boy and a man, leaving them injured.
Waff said she was walking to a parking garage so she could drive her son Landyn to school around 7:45 a.m. when the car, which she described as “erratic,” plowed through the crosswalk at Fourth Avenue South and South Jackson Street. The driver then sped off.
“I’m replaying it in my mind ever since,” she said Monday evening. “I can’t get the picture of it out of my head.”
The driver hit a 25-year-old man and Landyn, who was thrown in the air from the force of the impact, according to a Seattle Police Department incident report and Detective Valerie Carson. They were then dragged about 20 feet, Waff said.
” … It all just happened so fast,” Waff said. “They’re really lucky to be alive.”
Landyn had been walking a few feet ahead of his mother, who said the car missed her by a few inches.
Waff made sure to document the incident by taking photos with her cellphone. She worked in private security as a security manager for about 10 years and has extensive first aid and emergency experience, she said, so her mind immediately focused on recording the event for proof.
“I’m able to act quickly in stressful situations, but I never thought I’d have to do that with my own child,” Waff said.
Both Landyn and the other victim were taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, said Kristin Tinsley, Seattle Fire Department spokesperson.
Landyn sustained a bad concussion and has bruising everywhere, Waff said. He was released from the hospital on Monday.
Although Waff is relieved her son is in stable condition, she’s finding it difficult to explain to him why this happened.
“He’s asking, and I don’t know what to say other than there are monsters out there,” Waff said.
Waff said she hopes that reaching out to local media like The Seattle Times and sharing photos of the incident will help maintain focus and pressure on finding the driver. Police are always responding to incidents and priorities shift, she said.
Police spoke to several witnesses, but no arrests had been made as of Tuesday evening, Carson said.