EVERETT — A delivery driver arrested in connection with the July 6 death of a pedestrian in Marysville reportedly stopped in Arlington to inspect damage to his truck.
Randy Keith, 60, allegedly told Marysville police detectives he panicked after he felt his truck hit something while entering the onramp to I-5, according to court documents. The Puyallup man said he looked in his mirrors but didn’t see anything.
He raced off but stopped in Arlington. He said after seeing the damage he knew he had hit somebody or something, according a police affidavit made available Wednesday. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a radio report about a fatal collision, court papers said.
Scott H. Williams, 52, was in the crosswalk near Fourth Street and I-5 around 4:30 a.m. when he was struck. The Marysville man died four hours later.
Keith didn’t report his possible involvement to police. Marysville detectives, however, were able to track him down. They scoured surveillance camera footage from the area and the freeway and canvassed the neighborhood. By last week, they released a still photograph of a box truck, asking for the public’s help identifying the driver. They called the driver a possible witness.
Keith was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of vehicular homicide and fatal hit-and-run. He made a brief appearance Wednesday in Everett District Court.
Judge Anthony Howard found probable cause for the hit-and-run allegation. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Bob Hendrix didn’t ask the judge to hold the suspect for vehicular homicide. The prosecutor asked that bail be set at $100,000, saying Keith failed to step forward when he thought he might be responsible for the deadly collision.
Public defender Jennifer Symms asked for Keith’s release, saying her client doesn’t have any criminal history. There’s no indication that he was intoxicated or that he was driving recklessly, she said.
“This was a 4:30 a.m. accident,” she said.
Howard set bail at $10,000.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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