She drove after drinking and hit man riding a bike in Tacoma, injuring him, charges say
A bicyclist was struck by a drunken driver and injured Tuesday afternoon in Tacoma on 6th Avenue, according to criminal charges filed against the driver.
The impact of the collision shattered the windshield of the driver’s car, a midsize sedan, court records say. The bicyclist, a man in his 40s, was hospitalized at St. Joseph Medical Center with broken ribs. According to charging documents, the bicyclist and driver were traveling the same direction when the crash occurred.
Angela Mae Gordon, 34, was charged Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court with DUI vehicular assault. She was released on personal recognizance and ordered to install an ignition interlock device on any vehicle she drives.
The defendant does not have a criminal history in Pierce County, according to court records.
Several incidents this summer where bicyclists were injured or killed in collisions with cars in the Tacoma area have underscored the vulnerability of people getting around city streets without a car. The area where this crash occurred does not have bike lanes.
Earlier this month, City Council passed an ordinance to lower speed limits in parts of Tacoma, including on 6th Avenue between Alder Street and Tacoma Avenue South — outside the stretch of road where this crash happened. The change will go into effect Jan. 1, reducing 6th Avenue’s speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. The lowered limit is part of the city’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2035.
Tacoma Police Department officers were called to the incident at about 5:21 p.m. near 6th Avenue and North Warner Street, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Tacoma Fire Department personnel were already on scene tending to the injured man. Police reported that a bicycle was about 30 to 50 feet from where he was being treated.
A Toyota Camry was stopped in eastbound lanes of 6th Avenue, and firefighters advised police the driver was sitting on the sidewalk. The bicyclist was transported to the hospital, and officers contacted the driver, identified as Gordon.
The driver told police she was driving home from Ruston Way and was traveling east on 6th Avenue at about 35-40 mph when the collision occurred, according to the probable cause document. Gordon said she didn’t see the bicyclist going the same direction until she hit the bike and the rider was on her hood, records state.
Officers noticed the woman was swaying while she stood and spoke with them, and a drug-recognition expert was called to the scene. The woman told the expert that she drank two 8-oz. cans of Long Island iced tea earlier that day, which she bought while driving to Ruston Way. According to the probable cause document, she drank the first can at about 4 p.m. and had the second can about 45 minutes before the collision.
Police conducted a portable breath test, which showed Gordon’s blood-alcohol content was 0.170, records state. The legal limit is .08. She was arrested and brought to police headquarters for further breath testing, followed by a blood draw at St. Joseph Medical Center. The results of those toxicology tests are pending.
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
