Kenneth Sudduth, the Islander who crashed into a Dumpster at the north-end ferry dock on Aug. 28, jumped into the water immediately following the accident because his shirt was on fire, according to his mother Rebecca Parks — not to elude arrest for an outstanding warrant, as deputies believed.

“He was not fleeing. That is not true. He jumped into the water because his shoulder was on fire,” said Parks, who does not know her son’s whereabouts. “He had a very minor first-degree burn on his shoulder.”

King County Sheriff’s deputies at the scene and department spokespeople deduced Sudduth was fleeing the scene due to the fact that his driver’s license was suspended, he had an outstanding felony warrant and he had just crashed a pickup truck he’d borrowed from an acquaintance into state property, according to Sgt. John Urquhart, a spokesperson for the department.

But Parks disputes this claim. She told The Beachcomber on Friday that her son did not know at the time of the accident that he had a warrant.

As of Tuesday morning, Sudduth’s warrant was in effect, and he was not in police custody.

Sudduth could not be reached for comment.

He told his mother he incurred major injuries in the accident.

At 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, when he lost control of the truck he was driving and careened into a Dumpster and small tractor at the end of the dock, a small fire erupted

in the cab of the truck.

Sudduth jumped into the water off the southeast end of the ferry dock and made it to shore just north of the dock.

After the accident, he was transported by a Vashon Island Fire & Rescue ambulance to Harborview Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries but not admitted.

Sudduth told his mother he was in surgery for more than five hours, having suffered numerous lacerations, a broken tooth, broken cheek, broken nose and a hurt knee, Parks said.

Sudduth told Parks he got 1,000 stitches on his face.

“He tore everything on the inside and the upper lip,” she said. “They had to sew his upper lip up, stitch up all the muscles and the tissue and the lip, on the inside and on the outside.”

Urquhart, however, said it was highly unlikely Sudduth could have received that many stitches.