PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) - A driver was arrested in Washington state for allegedly killing a bicyclist while intoxicated and continuing to drive with the victim’s bicycle stuck to the front of his car, police said.
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office says 56-year-old Thomas Johnson of Tacoma was found dead along a road south of Port Orchard Saturday afternoon, KOMO-TV reported.
A 40-year-old Port Orchard man who was not immediately identified was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run, vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of narcotics.
A sample of the driver’s blood was taken and he was booked into the Kitsap County Jail with bail set at $250,000.
A preliminary investigation found Johnson was riding his bike on the road shoulder near Port Orchard, 23 miles (37 kilometers) west of Seattle, Scott Wilson of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office said.
A car swerved onto the shoulder, struck Johnson and then continued. The driver stopped about 1 mile (1.61 kilometers) away, where witnesses said they saw him trying to remove the bicycle from the car, sheriff’s officials said.
The driver told a deputy he thought he struck a mailbox.
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