MOUNT VERNON — The Skagit County prosecutor says no charge will be filed against the Washington State Patrol trooper who struck and killed a pedestrian last August on an Interstate 5 ramp at Mount Vernon.
The coroner's office said the Aug. 14 death of the 26-year-old from Vietnam, Hong Dinh Nguyen, was an accident.
Trooper Mark Francis was taking the southbound East College Way exit when Nguyen crossed in front of the patrol car and was hit. Nguyen died at the scene. The cause of death was blunt force injury to the head, Skagit Deputy Coroner Bob Clark said.
Francis was turning around to head north on Interstate 5 to respond to reports of a motorist pointing a rifle at another driver. No one was injured or arrested in the rifle incident. After a driver in a white pickup supposedly threatened another driver with a rifle in the Starbird Road area, the truck continued north on I-5 and was not found.
Francis has worked for the WSP for five years.
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