MARYSVILLE — One man was killed and two other men were seriously injured in a hit-and-run collision involving a car, a bicyclist and two pedestrians late Saturday evening.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet identified the man who died at the scene.
The two injured men, both Marysville residents, are 20 and 21 years old. They were taken to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center.
On Sunday afternoon, one of the men was alert and conscious; the other was in critical condition but is expected to survive, according to Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux with the Marysville Police Department. No information was available on their injuries.
An Everett man, 27, was being held for investigation of vehicular homicide and other offenses tied to the crash.
The collision occurred about 11:30 p.m. in the 10200 block of Shoultes Road when a car hit the two pedestrians and the bicyclist.
A. J. and Geri Heldt were in bed when she heard a bang shortly before 11:30 p.m. The couple first thought it might have been a car backfiring or clipping one of the tall fir trees that line the front of their home.
A.J. Heldt went out to investigate.
At first, it was hard to make sense of the confusing scene, he said.
He said he knew instantly that the first man he saw was dead. The body lay by their trees and on the road’s shoulder. A stocking cap was a few feet away.
A.J. Heldt then spotted a second victim who was motionless in the middle of the street.
The third young man was perhaps 75 feet from the first victim, he said.
A.J. Heldt called 911, telling the dispatcher that either there had been a collision or a shooting. The car believed to be involved was nowhere to be seen, he said.
Brian Barlass lives across the street from the Heldts.
He heard the crash from his bed and tried to reassure the victims that medics would soon arrive. There is a fire station a few blocks from the collision scene.
“They got plowed from behind,” Barlass said. “The guy kept going pretty much through them.”
On Sunday, Barlass erected signs by the road urging drivers to pay attention and to slow down.
The two-lane stretch of Shoultes Road is a heavily traveled thoroughfare that connects homes to Marysville’s business district. It often is driven on the way to Marysville Pilchuck High School.
The road was closed for more than six hours as collision investigators from the Marysville Police Department and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office worked to reconstruct what happened.
It appeared the victims might have picked up some late night snacks, neighbors said. Potato chips were strewn across the roadway.
Neighbors said speed has long been a problem as cars whiz past the road’s shoulder where people are walking, riding bikes or rolling by in wheelchairs.
On Sunday, two small wooden crosses were placed on the shoulder by the collision scene.
Geri Heldt put a pot of purple flowers at the foot of one of the crosses. She did so for the victims and as a reminder to those who drive by.
“I just felt like they needed something,” she said. “I wanted the drivers to know that something happened and they have got to slow down.”
Police said the driver of the car was found about 24 blocks away from the accident scene. His car had crashed into a tree.
Marysville collision investigators said they believe alcohol may have been a factor Saturday night’s mayhem.
The driver was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and felony hit-and-run.
A passenger in the car, a 30-year-old man from Marysville, also was booked into the county jail for investigation of rendering criminal assistance.
Eric Stevick 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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