TACOMA, Wash. — A driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault after witnesses said they accelerated toward two men crossing 96th Street South on Monday afternoon, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
The collision happened around 2 p.m. near The Woodmark apartments at 2425 96th Street South.
Two men in their 30s — one on a bicycle and the other on a skateboard — were crossing the street outside the crosswalk when the eastbound driver hit them.
Witnesses told authorities the driver appeared to speed up just before the impact.
The bicyclist went through the windshield and suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.
The skateboarder was not injured.
After striking the men, the vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into another car carrying Aeja Latin and her 2-year-old son.
“They were coming at us and in that moment I already knew I was going to be hit,” Latin explained. “I hurried up, jumped out, grabbed my baby that was in the back seat. And then, I asked for help from other people that were behind us to call the cops and everything.”
According to Latin, her son had cuts and bruises, and the mother was described as “banged up pretty badly.”
A GoFundMe has been created to help with medical aid for the mom and son.
Officers arrested the driver on two counts of vehicular assault and processed them for suspected DUI.
Investigators said charges could be upgraded to vehicular homicide if the bicyclist does not survive.
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