He stopped to move dead elk from road. He was fatally hit by driver who didn’t brake
A man fatally struck by a driver on a Pierce County road Saturday was trying to move an elk out of the lane when he was run over, according to court documents.
Troopers say Timothy John Reice, who admitted that he uses methamphetamine, never hit the brakes despite the victim waving his arms in the air, a bystander flashing his cell phone light at the truck and another driver honking a horn.
On Monday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Reice, 40, with vehicular homicide for the crash in the 32000 block of state Route 706 in Elbe.
The victim has been identified as James Peoples, 40, of Covington.
Charging papers give this account of the crash:
Peoples was traveling east on Route 706 when he struck an elk, so he stopped his truck in the roadway and got out to move the dead animal. Another vehicle came up behind Peoples’ truck and stopped to help.
After the two men removed the elk and were walking back to their respective vehicles, Reice’s pickup appeared behind them about 5:40 p.m. but did slow down as it approached.
Peoples stood in the center lane waving his arms, motioning for Reice to slow down, records say.
The man who helped Peoples move the elk jumped into a ditch on the shoulder of the road and flashed his cell phone light at the approaching pickup truck.
A woman in another vehicle hit her horn, hoping to catch the driver’s attention.
Reice’s truck swerved to miss the stopped vehicle and ran over Peoples. He then got out of his truck and yelled, “Why were you there?” a witness told the Washington State Patrol.
A park ranger was the first person on scene and ran a driver’s check on Reice, who had a felony warrant for his arrest.
The trooper who handled the investigation said Reice was “behaving somewhat erratically” by talking fast, being repetitive, sweating in 38-degree weather and alternating between acting amped-up and calm, prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Reice allegedly told troopers he had not been drinking, hadn’t used meth since the previous day and was coming out to Elbe to get sober.
Peoples was pronounced dead at the scene.
Reice was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital to have his blood drawn. Test results are pending.
