Tacoma hit-and-run victim was put on life-support and might lose legs, court records say
A suspected hit-and-run driver is accused of striking a man in Tacoma who was put on life support and might lose his legs, according to court records.
The 28-year-old pleaded not guilty at arraignment Monday to vehicular assault and hit-and-run. He was ordered held in lieu of $50,000 bail.
Charging papers made these allegations about what happened:
The victim ran out of gas and was pushing his vehicle when the defendant hit him a little before 4:45 a.m. Sunday near South 56th and Alaska streets.
Officers who responded saw the victim’s femurs were broken, and they used tourniquets to stop his bleeding.
Emergency workers took the man to the hospital in critical condition, and he was put on life support. Doctors planned to sedate him for a few days and then decide whether they need to amputate his legs.
Investigators found a receipt with the defendant’s name in the suspect vehicle at the scene, and learned that the car was registered to his grandmother.
They found the victim’s vehicle in neutral about a block and a half away, as well as two shoes and a baseball cap near the wreck.
Meanwhile the defendant, who had run away from the wreck, called to report a robbery to police. He allegedly said someone who is homeless asked him for money, got angry when the defendant said he couldn’t help, grabbed the defendant by the neck, took him out of the car and drove off.
He had a mark on his neck that investigators thought looked like an injury from a seat belt when someone has been in a wreck.
The defendant allegedly admitted he’d been driving when he crashed into the victim and said he hadn’t slept for 36 hours and had fallen asleep while driving.
Later he allegedly admitted having six or seven beers and a couple shots between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. and said he waited to head home in order to sober up.
At the police station he allegedly smelled of alcohol, had watery and bloodshot eyes, and his breath test registered at 0.113, above the legal limit of 0.08.
Prosecutors told the court the victim is a 26-year-old who is likely to lose both his legs and that the defendant has two prior DUI cases and has had bench warrants in the past for failing to appear in court.
