Police: International search underway for drunk driving suspect who fled to China after fatal crash

BELLEVUE, Wash. (KOMO) — Investigators in Washington state have started an international search for a drunk driving suspect accused of killing a 27-year-old man in a crash with excessive speeds of around 100 miles an hour.

The suspect, 26-year old Ting Ye, is believed to have fled to her native China.

Ye is accused of killing 27-year old Yabao Liu, who was a passenger in her Porsche on Sept. 30 when the car skidded off the road and flipped over near 108th Ave NE and SR 520.

“Based on the skid marks and evidence left at the scene that the car was going well in excess of 100 miles an hour,” the Bellevue Police Department's Public Information Officer Seth Tyler said, “The vehicle hit the barrier there and was actually thrown into the air and hit the side of that bridge where it came to rest.”

The crash happened around 3:45 a.m., and first responders were not called to the scene until almost 45 minutes later when someone passing by noticed the crashed Porsche. Both occupants had to be extricated from the heavily damaged vehicle. Liu did not survive and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court documents also state one of the first responders on scene “smelled the strong odor of alcohol coming from Ye.”

Ye was taken to Harborview Medical Center where she refused to cooperate with investigators, police said. Officers also said they were not notified Ye was discharged from the hospital until after she’d already fled and crossed over the border into Canada before police had gathered enough information for charges to be filed.

We were not notified by hospital personnel, my understanding is that she was not going to be released anytime soon due to her injuries, and so we were under the assumption she was going to remain at the hospital for some time,” Tyler said.

Police said they were able to determine Ye had someone drive her to Vancouver where she got on a flight to China. It’s possible the person who helped her leave could face consequences as police are still investigating.

The warrant was not yet in the system, she was at that point not prohibited from leaving the country, and so there was a delay unfortunately,” Tyler said. “The warrant wasn’t issued until a couple days later, and then at that point she had a court appearance that was scheduled last Tuesday that she did fail to appear for.”

According to court documents, both Ye and Liu are from China and were in Washington state for work. Ye has been charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Liu and bail is set at $2 million.

“We just want to make it clear to Ms. Ye that she is wanted for vehicular homicide, we need her to come back to speak with us,” Tyler said, “She has a warrant in the system if she ever tries to enter the United States, she’s going to be immediately arrested. We need her to just come back, take care of this, so the family of the victim can move on.”

China has no extradition order with the U.S., but BPD is working with federal partners to bring Ye to justice.

“China doesn’t, but other countries do,” Tyler said, “What she should be aware of is if she ever tries to any of those countries, she may be arrested.”

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