On Tuesday Feb. 28, 2023, at about 9:49 p.m. the Kent Police Traffic Unit responded to investigate a fatal vehicle accident involving a pedestrian at the 22800 block of Central Ave N. (map below).
As we previously reported, this incident was originally considered a hit-and-run due to witnesses hearing but not seeing the accident. This was determined to not be the case, and Kent Police do not believe any other vehicles were involved in this collision.
Police say that Traffic Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses, including the driver of the vehicle that struck the deceased.
They also located video evidence that conclusively showed the series of events leading up to the accident.
The video shows the deceased, who was wearing dark clothing, crawling out of the bushes located adjacent to the sidewalk, then staggering around, before falling into the roadway where he came to a rest just moments before being struck.
The driver of the involved vehicle was traveling northbound on Central Ave. N when the vehicle in front of her suddenly veered out of their lane. She attempted to swerve as well but did not have time to entirely avoid the pedestrian, who was laying in the street at the time of impact. The driver stopped immediately to check on the victim and flagged over a passing Kent Police Officer to seek aid.
The driver fully cooperated with the investigation was determined not be impaired at the time of the accident.
Reckless driving nor speed appear to be contributing factors to the collision.
