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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald A bike belonging to one of two injured 13-year-old girls lies on the side of the Machias Cutoff on Friday in Lake Stevens. The white car that hit the two girls is in the ditch stopped against a power pole.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, September 15, 2007 2 girls riding bikes struck, seriously injured By Scott Pesznecker, Herald Writer LAKE STEVENS — Two 13-year-old girls were seriously injured early Friday night when they were hit by a car while riding their bikes on Machias Cutoff in Lake Stevens. Both girls were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after the accident happened about 5:50 p.m. just west of the intersection of 117th Drive SE, Snohomish County Sheriff's Office Lt. Jeff Brand said. The car was heading east on Machias Cutoff when it veered onto the shoulder, collided with the girls and then struck a power pole in a ditch alongside the road, Brand said. The woman who was driving the car was uninjured, he said. "Our understanding is she was distracted by something and moved over onto the shoulder and hit the girls," Brand said. Further information about the girls' conditions was unavailable Friday night. The driver was visibly distraught. Investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol are a factor in the accident. John Arnold, 27, and his girlfriend, Lindsey Kaloustin, 24, live in a duplex on the corner of 117th Drive SE and Machias Cutoff. When the accident happened, they said their house shook and they heard what sounded like a dump truck releasing a load of rocks — not an unusual sound, because of several homes being built across the street. Arnold went outside and saw the two girls lying on their backs off the shoulder of the road. People had gotten out of their cars to comfort the girls, and some were on cell phones calling 911. One of girls was coughing and wheezing. The other girl, who lives next door to Arnold and Kaloustin, screamed for her mother. Her mom, who'd just come outside, saw her daughter and ran to her, kneeling down and holding her head, Arnold said. The woman who was driving the car seemed to be in shock, Arnold said. "She kept yelling, 'I ran over somebody, I ran over somebody,'" he said. A young girl and a dog got out of the car after it crashed, Arnold and Kaloustin said. "(The driver) was saying to people that her dog jumped over, and that she just took her eyes off the road for a second," Arnold said. Machias Cutoff was closed while the sheriff's office investigated the accident. About an hour before the accident, Kaloustin said she saw the girls riding their bikes through the neighborhood. She said people often run, bike and walk on Machias Cutoff, even though there are no sidewalks and drivers often speed there, she said. "On this road there's nowhere to walk if you want to walk, and people drive way too fast," Kaloustin said. "I'm scared to walk on it now, after seeing what happened," she said. Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.

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