Prolific offender arrested after deadly Seattle bus crash

This same individual was arrested in July for an investigation of attempting to elude police and has multiple municipal court warrants and a no-bail warrant with the Department of Corrections for escape.

On Saturday, police responded to a report of a crash involving a red sedan and a King County Metro Bus at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Battery Street, which caused the bus to crash into a building.

There was initial concern if the building was structurally sound after the impact, but Seattle Fire Department crews determined that the building was okay.

Seattle police said the driver, 31-year-old Adam Reuben Abelson, was behind the wheel of the red sedan headed southbound on 5th Avenue when he collided with the bus traveling eastbound on Battery Street. The crash pushed the bus off the road into a building, where it struck and killed a woman on the sidewalk.

Police said Monday that detectives found evidence of possible drug use in the car and that a blood warrant was obtained to assist with the DUI investigation.

The car itself is known in the area and local security has spotted a person passed out in the vehicle before.

According to the King County Prosecutor’s office, Abelson has multiple municipal court warrants and a no-bail warrant with the Department of Corrections for escape that has been pending since August 2023.

The most recently filed case before this month was a 2022 Organized Retail Theft in the First Degree case. Abelson was guilty as charged and was sentenced to 9 months in June 2022 and put on Department of Corrections community custody.

Abelson is in custody for vehicular homicide. He will be booked into the King County Jail once medically cleared.

King County Metro released the following statement following the crash: "This tragic incident involving a vehicle and one of our buses is heartbreaking. Our primary concern is with the loss of life and the health of those who were injured.