TULALIP — Prosecutors charged a Stanwood man Thursday with driving more than double the speed limit before crashing into an elderly man and fleeing the scene.
On the night of Nov. 13, 2022, Ronald Sailer, 85, turned left from 29th Avenue NE onto 140th Street NE, also known as Fire Trail Road, on the north end of the Tulalip Reservation, according to the charges filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Sailer saw a car approaching from a distance when he began his turn onto the two-lane road, he later told his son. Joseph Checkeye, driving a Dodge Ram pickup, rear-ended Sailer, prosecutors allege.
When a passing motorist found the wreckage, Checkeye was nowhere to be found, according to the charges. Sailer was trapped in his Nissan Rogue, pleading for help. He appeared to be in an “immense amount of pain,” the witness said.
The Nissan was resting diagonal across the eastbound lane. Collision detectives later determined the Nissan had left the road to the right after impact, drove through a fence and onto grass parallel to the road before veering left and coming to rest back on 140th Street NE, the charges say.
The SUV had extensive rear-end damage, according to court papers. Sailer told the witness another vehicle had rear-ended him.
Though Checkeye fled, the front grill and license plate from his Dodge had reportedly been dislodged. A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy found them at the crash site.
The deputy traced the license plate to Checkeye, now 46. The deputy drove to Checkeye’s home and found his pickup parked there. The Dodge was missing its front grill and license plate, according to court documents.
Sailer was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where hospital staff found his injuries were far more severe than paramedics had first thought. His injuries reportedly rendered him a quadriplegic. Two days later, he died.
A few days after the crash, detectives returned to Checkeye’s home. The pickup was gone. Investigators learned Checkeye had taken it to a repair shop. A worker at the shop told detectives Checkeye had reported rear-ending another car, but it was the other driver who drove away without stopping, according to court papers.
Checkeye later agreed to provide police with a written statement. In the statement, he reported Sailer had failed to stop when turning from 29th Avenue NE, leaving Checkeye only a second to brake, according to court documents. He wrote he was going 35 mph.
He also reported he didn’t see the other car after the crash, so he just drove home, according to the charges.
The day after the crash, Checkeye reported it to his insurance company. On a call with an insurance agent, he said he returned home after the crash and tried to figure out if anybody had called it in, according to the charges.
“It was lucky I didn’t kill anybody,” he reportedly said.
Detectives downloaded the crash data from the Dodge and the Nissan. It showed Checkeye’s Dodge was going 85 mph five seconds before impact, deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote in the charges. Checkeye hit the brakes, bringing his speed down to 47 mph at impact. The speed limit there is 35 mph.
Meanwhile, Sailer’s Nissan was going 1 mph five seconds before impact. He had sped up to 29 mph by the time Checkeye hit him, according to the charges.
Detectives determined if Checkeye had been going the speed limit he would’ve had enough time to stop before hitting Sailer.
On Thursday, just over two years after the crash, prosecutors charged Checkeye, of Stanwood, with vehicular homicide while driving in a reckless manner and a fatal hit-and-run allegation.
Checkeye has no criminal history, aside from a reckless endangerment misdemeanor from 2018 in Skagit County, court records show.
Sailer, of Bothell, was the president of the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society.
“Ron’s dedication, enthusiasm, and passion for genealogy and the Sno-Isle Genealogical Society was apparent to all who met him, and his presence will be sorely missed,” the society wrote after his death.
Checkeye’s arraignment is set for Dec. 11. In the charges, Darrow wrote he wouldn’t object to the defendant remaining out of custody while the case is pending.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
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