Spokane police search for hit-and-run driver

Police are searching for the driver of an SUV who struck a man walking across Mission Avenue on Sunday night and then sped away. The pedestrian was run over twice more before emergency workers found him dead at the scene.

Investigators are asking for the public’s help to solve the fatal hit-and-run, including the hunt for a gold or tan “Jeep” SUV. The drivers of the two cars who struck the man last may have been driving in the snow and ice without realizing they’d struck the man near the Mission Avenue bridge around 9 p.m. Sunday.

“It’s likely that at least the second vehicle going westbound may not have known that they struck a person,” Spokane police Capt. Brad Arleth said. The road was closed for several hours while investigators took statements and examined evidence, he said.

A witness told police a man was struck by the SUV as he was crossing Mission from north to south, Arleth said.

“Unfortunately the victim was projected into the westbound lanes of Mission, and we have information from the witness that he was subsequently struck by two other vehicles that left the scene,” Arleth said.

Snow was falling and the roads were ice-packed when the incident took place, Arleth said. It appeared the man was trying to cross Mission in a coned area intended to keep cars from making left-hand turns, he said.

Police did not say whether it appeared the first vehicle attempted to brake before striking the man. The intersection is well-lit and is not a known problem area for pedestrians, Arleth said.

The pedestrian’s name has not been released.Those with information about the collision are asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.