64-year-old man arrested after hit-and-run that seriously injured pedestrian
Police arrested a 64-year-old man suspected of seriously injuring a woman in a hit-and-run collision last week near the Spokane County Fairgrounds.
John Townshend was booked into the Spokane County Jail on Monday on suspicion of felony hit-and-run with injury and an unrelated misdemeanor warrant.
The charge stems from the night of Jan. 24 when a driver, later identified as Townshend, struck a pedestrian with a black 2014 Jeep Wrangler in the 5200 block of East Broadway Avenue and continued to drive away from the scene, according to a Spokane Valley Police Department news release.
The woman remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition Tuesday, police said.
A sheriff’s deputy whose patrol car was blocking the road for the hit-and-run investigation that night was injured when a suspected drunken driver slammed into the car. The deputy was released from the hospital shortly thereafter and the driver, 63-year-old Raymond Jones, was arrested.
Investigators used vehicle parts recovered at the hit-and-run scene to narrow the search to the Jeep. Deputies contacted Townshend for a suspicious vehicle the day after the crash in the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn, 6309 E. Broadway Ave., which is about 11 blocks east of the scene of the hit-and-run.
Police said they reviewed body camera footage of the interaction with Townshend and noticed the vehicle, a black 2014 Wrangler, had damage to the right-front fender. The damage had a unique look that appeared to match the parts located at the crash scene.
Investigators started Monday to surveil the Trent Resource and Assistance Center, which Townshend previously used as a home address, according to deputies. Townshend entered the homeless shelter’s parking lot driving the Wrangler Monday night and he was arrested .
Townshend admitted to police he was driving the Wrangler east on Broadway when he saw a woman in the road. He swerved to avoid hitting her but clipped her, he told police.
Townshend told police he turned around to look for her but assumed she had run off and returned to the Rodeway Inn where he was staying.
Townshend said he heard a person had been hit that evening and thought about calling law enforcement but never did, the release said.
He made his first appearance Tuesday in Spokane County Superior Court and is scheduled for an arraignment Feb. 13. He remained in jail Tuesday in lieu of a $27,500 bond.