80-year-old woman dies after getting dragged during carjacking, Seattle police say

An elderly woman was killed in Seattle, Washington, by injuries she received during a violent carjacking, according to police.

Seattle police Det. Eric Muñoz said in a police blotter post that officers responded to calls about a carjacking in the Madison Valley neighborhood around 10 a.m. Tuesday. When police arrived, they found a person performing CPR on a woman lying in the street.

'This woman was fighting for other people’s dogs and her own dog in this car. Like it wasn’t about the car. It was about the dogs.'

Neighbors identified the woman as 80-year-old Ruth Dalton, owner of Grandma’s Critter Care. Police said during the carjacking and struggle, she was "dragged by her car and mortally wounded." Dalton reportedly had several dogs in her vehicle during the carjacking, the Seattle Times reported.

Muñoz said some bystanders saw the attack and tried to help the woman but were unsuccessful.

One woman who saw the incident told the Times that the carjacker actually backed over the victim before driving off.

“He did not need to back up,” Laura Dynan said. “This woman was fighting for other people’s dogs and her own dog in this car. Like it wasn’t about the car. It was about the dogs.”

Seattle Fire Department responders tried to save Dalton's life, but she was declared dead at the scene.

Some of the dogs in the vehicle escaped, while others were still inside it as the carjacker sped away, Dynan added to the Times.

Hours later, police said they were responding to a report of a dead dog when they found the Dalton's car abandoned in a neighborhood about five miles away from the crime scene.

Dynan offered a defense of Seattle against those who claimed it is crime-infested, despite the horrific death of the elderly woman on her street.

“There’s a lot of stories and a lot of people being interviewed talking about how awful Seattle is, and it’s not safe,” she told the Times. “But you know what? Every single person came out, everyone came to help her, and I want someone to talk about that.”

Muñoz said police are actively searching for the attacker and investigating the matter as a homicide.

KING-TV published scenes from the neighborhood and an interview with Muñoz.

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