David Rasbach
The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
(MCT)
Apr. 4—A man suspected of leaving the scene of a crash that ultimately resulted in the death of a retired Bellingham (WA) firefighter was booked into jail on Monday, April 4.
The Bellingham Police Department booked Sam Christopher Kuljis into Whatcom County Jail Monday on suspicion of hit and run resulting in death, according to jail records.
根据一封来自星期五晚上的克劳迪娅·墨菲的电子邮件，根据Samisham Herald的一封电子邮件，警方为2月11日发生的崩溃建立了可能的事业。
“BPD is looking for Kuljis and hopes he turns himself in to face the consequences of his actions,” Murphy wrote.
In that crash, Hartwell Mitchell, a retired Bellingham firefighter and veteran of the U.S. Navy, was riding his lawnmower when he was struck by the car driven by Kuljis, Murphy reported. Hartwell subsequently died from the injuries he suffered in the incident.
墨菲报道，官员抵达现场寻找治疗米切尔的医务人员，然后在圣约瑟夫医院举行的急诊部门。米切尔后来被送往西雅图的Harbalview Medical Center，后来死亡。
Police noted a John Deere riding lawnmower heavily damaged, Murphy reported. Witnesses also told police that the driver of the car, later identified as Kuljis, had left the scene.
Witnesses told police that Mitchell was riding his lawnmower down his driveway to the mailboxes across the street, according to Murphy. Mitchell then waited for a car traveling south to pass, before heading back across Samish Way, the witness reported.
It was then that a northbound car, driven by Kuljis, collided with Mitchell’s lawnmower and continued without stopping, Murphy reported.
The car Kuljis was driving was recovered from a repair shop, and police found damage consistent with the crash investigation, according to Murphy.
米切尔的纪念服务将于下午1点举行。4月8日星期四，摩尔斯殡仪馆，Bellingham Firedition Spokesperson Dustin Michaelis告诉Bellingham Herald。
Michaelis还分享了Mitchell的家庭成立的Gofundme账户，以筹集资金来帮助支持Mitchell的妻子，米切尔在过去30个月里照顾。截至周一，它筹集了35,000美元的目标。
According to his obituary on the Moles website, Mitchell died on March 7 at the age of 80. He served in the Navy between 1959 and 1962 and with the Bellingham Fire Department between 1971 and 1999, retiring as a fire inspector.
