A man was hospitalized and two people arrested following a stabbing and vehicle theft that began in the Sequim area and ended with the recovery of seven children in Kitsap County, authorities said.
Deputies with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office responded around 8:10 p.m. Sunday to a report of a fight inside a car in the 260 block of Carlsborg Road near Sequim. A witness told dispatchers they saw a man fall from the driver’s side door before the vehicle fled north on Carlsborg Road.
Upon arrival, deputies found a 69-year-old Port Angeles man suffering from a stab wound to the neck. The victim, though conscious, was largely unable to speak but indicated he had been riding in a car “full of kids,” authorities said.
Before being airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the man told medics he had picked up a large family on the side of the road near Deer Park on Highway 101.
The vehicle involved, a blue Lexus RX300 registered to the stabbed man, was reported stolen. Deputies determined it was likely taken by the same family that had been the subject of a welfare check earlier that evening, when a caller reported a stranded red Dodge Durango with seven children inside along Highway 101.
Authorities identified the family as a 30-year-old father and a 29-year-old mother from Port Angeles, along with their seven children, ages 6 months to 9 years old.
Deputies had interacted with the couple twice earlier Saturday: once during a reported disturbance in Sequim, and again when the father was arrested and released for reckless driving in Port Angeles.
Deputies launched an overnight search for the stolen Lexus across Sequim and Port Angeles, but it was not found until around 5 a.m. Monday, when the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office discovered it parked in the middle of a road with its lights off.
Inside the vehicle, deputies located the father in the driver’s seat, the mother in the passenger seat, and the seven children in the back. A bloody knife was reportedly recovered from the father’s pocket, and a significant amount of blood was found around the driver’s seat area.
The father and mother were arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle and reckless endangerment–domestic violence. The children were taken into protective custody and referred to Child Protective Services.
The Lexus was impounded as evidence, and the investigation into the stabbing remains ongoing, according to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office. Officials said the stabbed victim underwent surgery at Harborview. A representative said he was in critical condition as of Monday afternoon.
The 69-year-old victim’s decision to pick up a stranded family with seven children represents a Good Samaritan gesture that turned violent, highlighting the risks of assisting strangers in distress, though such attacks remain statistically rare.
The parents’ multiple law enforcement contacts within a 24-hour period, a disturbance in Sequim, a reckless driving arrest in Port Angeles, and a welfare check for stranded children, demonstrate an escalating pattern of concerning behavior that culminated in violence.
The presence of seven children ranging from 6 months to 9 years old during the stabbing and vehicle theft creates additional criminal exposure for the parents, with reckless endangerment charges reflecting the danger they placed their children in during the incident.
The overnight search spanning two counties, Clallam and Kitsap, required coordination between multiple law enforcement agencies and demonstrates the challenges of locating fleeing suspects in the Olympic Peninsula’s sprawling rural geography.
The discovery of the vehicle parked in the middle of a road with lights off at 5 a.m. suggests the suspects either ran out of fuel, became disoriented, or abandoned an escape attempt, making their apprehension relatively straightforward once located.
Child Protective Services’ involvement ensures the seven children receive safety assessments, medical evaluations, and temporary placement while authorities determine whether the parents retain custody rights or face termination of parental rights proceedings.
The victim’s critical condition following surgery indicates life-threatening injuries from the neck stabbing, with such wounds often damaging major blood vessels, airways, or nerves that control breathing and speech.
