Driver charged with vehicular assault, DUI after cyclist struck on Bainbridge Island

A 37-year-old man from Bainbridge Island was arrested for an alleged vehicular assault while driving under the influence and a hit and run after he struck a cyclist.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, several people called 911 to report a driver in a truck on Highway 305 had pulled into the Clearwater Casino parking lot and was swerving and appeared to be drunk, according to court documents.

Witnesses then told police that a truck traveling southbound on the highway south of NE Koura Road veered over the fog line and struck a cyclist biking the same direction, according to the report. The driver did not appear to slow down after hitting the cyclist, continuing to drive on, wrote a Bainbridge Island police officer after viewing dashcam footage from a witness.

A 911 caller checked on the cyclist, who was conscious. The man was wearing a helmet and suffered cuts on his knees and forehead. After being tended to by medics, the cyclist was airlifted to the Harborview Medical Center due to the severity of his injuries.

After a 911 caller identified the license plate of the swerving truck, Bainbridge Island police identified a nearby residence where the registered owner lived. When police arrived at the residence, they found the truck in the residence’s driveway. Its hood was still warm and the passenger-side mirror was broken off, and scuffs marked the passenger-side window.

Officers knocked on the door to the residence repeatedly until the man answered, who matched the description of the driver seen by the witnesses who called 911. The suspect did not admit to striking the cyclist. When officers asked the man about his missing passenger side mirror he said he did not know, but did acknowledge that the mirror had not been broken when he left White Horse Golf Course 30 minutes prior, where he told police he had played golf. Reports indicate the suspect smelled of alcohol and was slurring his speech, and the man told officers he had drank two IPAs and four Coors Lights while playing golf. The man declined performing a field sobriety test and providing a breath sample.

The man was taken to St. Michael Medical Center to have his BAC level tested via a blood test. He was later booked into the Kitsap County Jail and charged Thursday with one count of vehicular assault-DUI and one count of hit and run.