By Jim Haley
Herald Writers
EVERETT — A driver under investigation for a fatal hit-and-run accident here late last month was so drunk he appeared "just hammered" a short time after the collision, according to court papers.
The Snohomish County man, who has not been charged, was questioned shortly after a pedestrian, a 23-year-old naval officer, was struck and killed as she crossed Broadway on Oct. 26.
Ensign Carrie Shoemaker was assigned to the San Diego-based USS Milius, a guided-missile destroyer that is currently moored at Naval Station Everett. Shoemaker had been with friends when she attempted to cross Broadway at the corner of Hewitt Avenue. The pickup that struck her didn’t stop.
In a second accident shortly after Shoemaker was hit, the same Ford F-350 pickup truck collided with another vehicle at the intersection of 47th Place W. and Beverly Park Road near Edmonds, according to court papers filed Friday.
According to the documents, a witness followed the Ford for three or four miles after Shoemaker was hit and was able to obtain its license number. The witness told Everett detective Manny Garcia that the pickup’s driver "appeared … to be nervous and somewhat erratic in his driving," he said in an affidavit for a search warrant of the truck.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office notified Everett detectives about the second collision on Beverly Park Road, describing the dark-colored Ford pickup with the same license number supplied by the witness. The witness later identified the pickup’s driver as the person he had followed right after Shoemaker was hit.
A deputy who conducted the investigation of the second collision near Edmonds said the suspect was "just hammered," Garcia wrote. He added that the man "smelled (of) an odor of an intoxicating liquor" and "his eyes were watery and he had a blank stare."
A blood sample was taken, but court documents didn’t disclose the results.
The truck was impounded.
Shoemaker was the electronic warfare officer aboard the USS Milius, which had been sent to Everett after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She was enjoying a night of liberty with several shipmates when the accident occurred.
Her family flew in from Pennsylvania, and her twin brother and boyfriend flew here from San Diego, where they are also based as Navy ensigns, for a memorial service at Naval Station Everett last week. The service was organized by Milius officers.
You can call Herald Writer Jim Haley at 425-339-3447 or send e-mail to haley@heraldnet.com.
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