Friends remember man killed in Lime scooter hit-and-run

The man who died Oct. 9 after being hit by a car while riding a Lime scooter has been identified as 28-year-old Tyler Chestnutt.

Almost a week after his death, friends of Chestnutt recalled his kind and caring personality and his major love of the Seattle Seahawks.

Henry Tibbetts, a close friend of Chestnutt, said in a message Tuesday that Chestnutt’s impact on his life was “immeasurable.”

The men, along with Henry’s brother Jonathan Tibbetts, had been close since elementary school.

“Tyler was my best friend, he was my only friend at times,” Tibbetts said. “He was the best friend to everyone because he was the best guy to be around. The world lost a great man whose passion for life was loud, not just on Sundays for his Seahawks.”

Chestnutt grew up in Spokane and worked various jobs after graduating high school.

He was a “hard worker” who was entering a new phase of his life, Jonathan Tibbetts said.

“He was in a mode where he really wanted to kick his life into the next gear,” Jonathan Tibbetts said.

“It’s just completely shocking,” Jonathan Tibbetts said. “Someone who’s just going about their everyday life and just doing what they enjoy doing, which is spending time with his family and friends. He’s just simply trying to go home and he gets to that intersection and it’s just wrong place, wrong time.”

Just before midnight on Wednesday, Spokane police responded to reports that a car had hit a pedestrian near the intersection of Wellesley Avenue and Crestline Street.

Officers found Chestnutt in the westbound lane of Wellesley, according to court documents. Chestnutt died from his injuries on scene.

The driver of the vehicle, later identified by police as Desean Weeks, 21, allegedly fled the scene of the collision.

Police found a friction mark on the west side of the intersection consistent with the scooter being hit and the “severely damaged” Lime scooter located farther west near Martin Street, court documents state.

The speed limit at the intersection where the accident occurred is 30 mph, but police say the car was traveling at highway speeds.

A fluid trail led investigators several blocks, from the friction mark west on Wellesley Avenue to the intersection of Pittsburg Street and Empire Avenue, where a white Honda CR-V was found flipped onto its passenger side, court document state. The car had been reported stolen earlier that day from a used car dealership on North Ruby Street.

The CR-V had collided with a parked car, which caused it to roll onto its side, according to court documents.

Police say the CR-V had damage consistent with hitting a pedestrian at a high speed, including a shattered windshield and blood on the front of the vehicle.

The driver of the car fled the crash scene, and police searched for hours before arresting Weeks.

In an interview with police, Weeks admitted to stealing the CR-V from a car dealership and to hitting the Lime scooter rider, court documents say.

Weeks was charged with vehicular homicide, felony hit-and-run, theft of a motor vehicle, residential burglary, theft of a firearm and commercial burglary. He also had a bench warrant after failing to appear for a hearing related to a 2016 misdemeanor assault charge.

Weeks is being held in Spokane County Jail on more than $250,000 bail.

“The out pouring of love after his death makes so much sense because it is a reflection on the way he lived his life,” Jonathan Tibbetts said.

A fundraiser to help cover funeral costs is planned for Oct. 26 at Litz’s Bar & Grill. A Celebration of Life is planned for Nov. 3, also at Litz’s, which was Chestnutt’s favorite place to watch the Seahawks.

This story has been changed from its original version.