Driver charged in hit-and-run that killed man on motorized skateboard in Tacoma
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- Prosecutors charged a 19-year-old man for his involvement in a fatal hit-and-run collision.
- Police tracked vehicle fluid and wreckage to a damaged Toyota Corolla found nearby.
- Investigators used surveillance, DNA and interviews to identify a suspect.
Prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a driver who allegedly struck two men riding motorized skateboards at the intersection of Tacoma Avenue South and South 86th Street on Jan. 20.
Jesus Paez-Miranda, 19, is charged in Pierce County Superior Court with failure to remain at accident resulting in death, failure to remain at accident resulting in injury and driving without a valid license, court records show.
A court date has yet to be assigned but will be soon, Adam Faber, a spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, told The News Tribune via email Thursday. The court will issue a summons to the defendant letting him know when his court date will be. A warrant is not out for his arrest at this time.
Tacoma Police arrived at the scene of the fatal collision at about 11:30 p.m., The News Tribune reported. They found two victims, one of whom was pronounced dead at the scene and later identified as 62-year-old Carl Petersen. The other victim was Petersen’s 64-year-old friend, Gilbert Fowler, who was transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
Family members remembered Petersen as their “Crazy Carl” and told The News Tribune that he was an adventure seeker and a musician who “loved everybody, and everybody loved him.” His sister told a reporter in May that the family feared they’d never learn who was responsible for the hit-and-run that took Petersen’s life, waiting for answers in a lengthy police investigation.
Tacoma Police spokesperson Sgt. John Correa told The News Tribune in June that the detective working on the case had collected evidence leading to “the identification of a person of interest” but that the case required further investigation.
Police reports attached to charging documents allege additional details about how police located a suspect.
The vehicle that allegedly struck Petersen and Fowler was a silver 2016 Toyota Corolla, which was traveling north on Tacoma Avenue South.
A Tacoma police officer followed a trail of vehicle fluid identified at the scene and found several car parts in the roadway near South 84th Street and South G Street. He eventually found an unoccupied, heavily damaged car with its hazard lights on in the parking lot of a church at 8243 Park Ave. S. The officer noticed the smell of alcohol coming from the car and saw three unopened beer bottles in the backseat.
Paez-Miranda’s sister arrived and told police she had learned from her mother that her brother had been involved in a collision in Tacoma. She tracked his recent location using an app on her cell phone. Paez-Miranda’s brother also arrived, and both attempted to reach their brother via cell phone but were unsuccessful.
Police had the vehicle towed and saved for evidence and reviewed surveillance video from nearby residences that confirmed the Corolla’s involvement in the collision, court records show. The victims’ two motorized skateboards — referred to as “unregistered hand-built motorized scooter(s)” in the police reports — were also towed.
Paez-Miranda called 911 later that night and told police he was in the car that crashed but that his friend was driving it, offering a first name and a phone number.
An officer called that number Feb. 6, and the person who responded said he recalled Paez-Miranda picking him up from a location in Renton in a Toyota Corolla, and that there were three other passengers in the car. He also recalled that he and the group were driving around without a destination. He “then stated that he did not recall much after that as he was smoking (a substance) and getting high in the vehicle,” and he didn’t remember being in a collision that night, police wrote.
The man told police that Paez-Miranda was the only one to drive the car that night, and that Paez-Miranda doesn’t let anyone else drive it.
Police obtained a search warrant to collect items from the Corolla Jan. 29, sending material for DNA testing to the Washington State Patrol crime laboratory. On May 23, officers drove to a residence where they were told Paez-Miranda lived. They intended to serve a search warrant to collect DNA swabs they could use to compare to the DNA profiles extracted by the crime lab, police reports show.
A man who identified himself as Paez-Miranda’s father answered the door and told police that Paez-Miranda had moved out of the home on the night of the collision to a location he did not know. He also said he hadn’t been in contact with his son since the collision and did not have contact information for him, and that his wife and other son were not at home. The officer left a business card and asked Paez-Miranda’s father to call the police if his son returned or if he knew Paez-Miranda’s whereabouts.
The officer tried calling a phone number listed for Paez-Miranda but was unsuccessful. Officers visited a different residence June 4 to reach Paez-Miranda’s sister, but she also told police she didn’t know his location and that she hadn’t been in contact with him since the collision.
On Sept. 25, police requested a search warrant for cell phone data associated with Paez-Miranda’s phone number from noon Jan. 20 to noon Jan. 22. The warrant was granted and sent to the cell phone service provider.
