A 55-year-old man was killed after a driver of a small car lost control of the vehicle and crashed through the exterior wall of his Kent apartment on Saturday night.
Robert Horner Sr. died from compression asphyxia from being crushed under the vehicle, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The two people in the vehicle were not injured. Police interviewed both of the car’s occupants, and discovered the 21-year-old woman driver, who had a valid instructional permit, was on a driving lesson under the guidance of the licensed passenger.
“Although speed and alcohol (at this time) do not appear to be a factor, Kent traffic investigators continue to investigate the circumstances leading up to the collision,” said police spokesman Jarod Kasner in an email.
Family members said Horner was a disabled veteran who was lying in bed when the car struck the building.
Kent Regional Fire Authority firefighters were dispatched at 6:22 p.m. to a report that a vehicle had struck the Bryson Square apartment complex in the 10800 block of Southeast 240th Street. They found a small four-door import car that was more than halfway inside of a ground-floor apartment.
Firefighters were forced to jack the car up in order to get to Horner, but were unable to revive him. No one else was injured.
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