Edmonds police are looking for the driver of a van involved in a traffic accident at Highway 99 and 238th Street Southwest shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday night, the aftermath of a police pursuit of a shoplifter at the Edmonds TOP Food store on Highway 99 a few minutes earlier.

According to Edmonds Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Blackburn, police responded to a report of a man suspected of shoplifting two baskets of groceries from the Edmonds TOP Food store at 21900 Highway 99. The suspect was seen jumping into the passenger side of a waiting red Ford Econoline van before it sped away southbound. When an Edmonds police officer attempted to stop the vehicle as it approached 238th Street Southwest, the driver accelerated and ran the traffic signal, striking a northbound vehicle.  The driver of the van fled on foot following the collision.

The 57-year old Edmonds man driving the victim vehicle received only a minor injury that did not require medical attention.

A 41-year old Everett man identified as the shoplifting suspect was arrested from the passenger seat of the van. He suffered minor injuries during the collision and was treated at the scene by Snohomish County Fire District 1 medics. A 41-year old Redmond woman sitting in the back of the suspect’s van had not been wearing a seatbelt and was injured. She was transported to a Seattle hospital for “serious but not life-threatening” leg and arm injuries, Blackburn said.

The driver of the suspect vehicle remains at large. He’s described as a 30-year-old white male, 5-11 and approximately 200 pounds. The man has close-cropped light brown hair that witnesses described as appearing bald.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Edmonds Police tip line at 425-771-0212.