A 12-year-old boy was riding a scooter in Kent on the shoulder of 132nd Avenue SE when the driver of a vehicle reportedly hit and killed him at a high rate of speed.
Kent Police arrested a 19-year-old Maple Valley man (a previous police report listed Kent as his hometown) for investigation of vehicular homicide in the collision at about 6:58 p.m. Tuesday, July 11 at 132nd Avenue SE near SE 23oth Street, according to probable cause court documents released July 12 by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The driver told officers he estimated his speed at 55 to 60 mph in the posted 35 mph zone, according to court documents. The boy died at the scene.
The Kent Reporter is not yet identifying the man because he has not been formally charged. His first court appearance was Wednesday afternoon, July 12. The court found probable cause for vehicular homicide, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the man remained in custody at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle, according to jail records. The court set bail at $150,000, according to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The man waived his right to appear and was represented by a defense attorney, who said he had permission to make the bail agreement.
The man told police he was driving a Chevy Silverado southbound on 132nd Avenue SE when he decided to test his truck’s suspension and passed southbound traffic via the oncoming northbound lane, according to probable cause documents. Once he passed multiple vehicles, he moved back into the southbound lane.
He told officers his truck pulled to the right and he collided with a vehicle and the child who was riding his scooter, according to court documents. The boy was riding on the shoulder of the road off the side of the fog line.
The driver told officers he was at a park off Renton-Maple Valley Highway with friends and had about four Twisted Tea alcohol drinks, according to probable cause documents. He was driving back to his home in Maple Valley and had his girlfriend and multiple other friends in the truck with him.
Officers noted the truck had significant damage, with an axle and tires ripped from the vehicle, indicating a high speed collision. When officers talked to the driver, he was shirtless and shoeless. An officer recognized the odor of intoxicants.
The driver agreed to a voluntary field sobriety test. According to court documents, he swayed noticeably, took the wrong number of steps, missed heel to toe and stepped off the line.
The driver told police he had a gun inside the truck. Officers found a pistol inside on the driver floorboard.
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