Man complaining about illegal dumping gets run over by pickup truck, WA cops say

A 38-year-old man was arrested after being accused of running over a man with a pickup truck after he complained about illegal dumping, Washington police told news outlets.

On Sept. 21, the King County Sheriff’s Office responded to an area in Ravensdale, deputies said in a Nov. 16 Facebook post.

Nick Valison, 53, confronted Andrew Baim, 38, and a group of people about potential illegal dumping from a U-Haul in the woods, police told King 5.

Detectives learned the U-Haul was reported as stolen, police told The Seattle Times.

During the confrontation, Baim is accused of running over Valison with a Dodge pickup truck, according to charging documents obtained by KOMO News.

Valison was found lying on the grass with head injuries, deputies told KIRO. He died at the scene.

“He became friends with anybody he even slightly encountered,” Scott Mason, who helped organize Valison’s vigil, told King 5.

Later that day, officials found the pickup truck matching the description witnesses gave “engulfed in flames,” police told King 5. Deputies learned that truck also was stolen.

“He was probably the best human being I’ve ever known, he was the glue of the family,” Tanie Valison, Nick Valison’s wife, told FOX 13.

Baim was arrested on unrelated charges and is also being charged for failing to register as a sex offender, officers told The Seattle Times.

McClatchy News reached out to the King County Sheriff’s Office and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Nov. 17 for more information and was awaiting a response.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has since filed murder, arson and stolen vehicle charges against Baim, according to a Nov. 16 news release. His bail is set at $4 million as officials consider him a flight risk.

Ravensdale is about 30 miles southeast of Seattle.