MILL CREEK — A Mill Creek man was on his way home from a bar last month when he allegedly hit a bicyclist and kept going.
Police believe they’ve identified the suspect through interviews with witnesses and physical evidence from the scene. The man is under investigation for felony hit-and-run and tampering with evidence, according to public records.
Detectives recently obtained a search warrant for the man’s phone records, including call logs and text messages. A Snohomish County judge approved the warrant Sept. 18.
The bicyclist, a 53-year-old man, was critically injured. As of mid September he remained at the hospital in serious but stable condition.
The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 26 at 35th Ave SE and Silver Crest Drive, just south of the Thomas Lake shopping center. A neighbor who heard the noise told police he went outside and saw a sport utility vehicle with severe side damage fleeing the scene.
When detectives searched the roadway for crash evidence, they found a tow hitch cover, pieces of a broken bug guard, pieces of a headlight, and bronze-colored paint chips. The tow hitch cover was from a Toyota Highlander.
Witnesses later told police they saw the suspect — and his bronze Toyota Highlander — at a local tavern that night.
On Aug. 29, police searched the man’s house, which is within a mile of the crash scene. The Toyota was parked in the garage and had significant side damage. It had mounts for a bug guard, but no bug guard. It also was missing part of the front fender and a head lamp.
In an interview, the man reportedly told detectives that if it was him who struck the bicyclist, “don’t you think me or the person who did that would have felt really bad about it, and that they would have a hard time dealing with it.”
On Sept. 1, the suspect’s attorney reportedly told police that he was “willing to compensate the bicyclist for any injuries he may have caused.”
The Herald is not naming the man because he has not been charged with a crime in the case. Detectives believe he had made plans for a moving company to take the Toyota to Texas, where he used to live, later this month. The side damage to the Toyota was from a previous collision in Texas, he told police.
At one point, he reportedly told detectives that he’d heard a loud metallic noise on his way home the morning of the Mill Creek crash and thought he’d hit a trash can.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
