‘I guess I win’: Driver told to slow down attacks with hammer, runs down couple, police say

A driver nearly hit a couple walking on a Tacoma road, came after the husband with a hammer and deliberately ran them down when leaving the area, court documents show.

The 37-year-old driver was charged Thursday with two counts of first-degree assault and one count of failure to remain at an injury accident.

He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $50,000 bail.

The husband, 53, and wife, 48, were severely bruised by the car but not seriously injured.

Charging papers give this account:

On Sept. 3, the couple was walking on North Mason Avenue when a VW Jetta sped around a corner and nearly struck the wife. Her husband became upset and yelled at the driver to be careful.

The driver slowed down, drove up behind the couple and argued with the husband. After spitting on the husband, the driver drove off and yelled, “I guess I win!,” records show.

Continuing to walk, the husband picked up a piece of asphalt the size of a baseball in case the driver returned.

He did.

Getting out of the Jetta, the driver started yelling and the husband threw the hunk of asphalt through a rear passenger window. That prompted the driver to rush at the husband with a hammer.

The men fought and cursed before the driver eventually got back in his car. He turned around and drove onto the sidewalk where the couple was standing.

“The driver then gunned the car in the (couple’s) direction, hitting both of them, throwing both to ground,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.

It took more than a month for Tacoma police to track down the car and find out who was driving it on the day of the hit-and-run.

The driver allegedly told his family different stories to explain the broken car window, ranging from confronting a couple not walking on a sidewalk to being pulled out of the car and assaulted by the angry husband, court records show.

This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 9:07 AM.