BELLEVUE, Wash. — A close call was caught on camera as a skateboarder crossing a street in Bellevue on foot slammed into a Tesla SUV and then walked away.
Bellevue police want to find the young man with the skateboard.
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The skateboarder and the SUV met at just the right moment and angle at the intersection of 148th Avenue and 8th Street Northeast in Bellevue and the boarder was able to walk away. Bellevue police say the incident caught on camera happened at 12:42 p.m. Wednesday.
Video from a traffic camera shows that he was at the corner, and police say he sprinted to the other side without a walk signal and was hit by that SUV. The board blocks him from the SUV a bit, and it appears he doesn’t have any major injuries.
The police connected KIRO 7 Reporter Ranji Sinha with the driver who spoke to KIRO 7 as long as we shielded her identity.
The driver, a woman we’ll refer to as CJ, said that having the close call with the pedestrian is the worst moment she’s had while driving.
“I was panicked, because I thought I hit a person,” said CJ.
The driver of the Tesla and Bellevue police say the skateboarder is lucky to be alive after running full speed into her SUV. The video shows that the board may have been the only thing that saved him. CJ says the board damaged her SUV, and she showed us the damage. She says she stayed at the scene of the crash and called 911.
Bellevue police Public Information Officer Seth Tyler says the crash was a hit-and-run because the skateboarder crossed against the signal, hit the car and took off.
“We need to talk to them. You're required to stop if you cause damage to a vehicle and provide your information, and they failed to do that,” said Tyler.
The damage is clear and will be expensive when it comes to repairs, but CJ is worried about the young man.
“He ran he was very fast. I couldn't even see him,” said CJ. “I never had this kind of accident before. I hope this person's parents will see the tv and video and come up to let us know that what's happened.”
Tyler says another piece of the video shows a bus arriving and the department suspects that the skateboarder ran on foot to get to the bus stop.
“He may have been trying to make that bus that was coming to a stop, but again, we haven't spoken to him,” said Tyler.
At rush hour, 148th Avenue and Eighth street is busy, and could be daunting to some pedestrians.
It's a different kind of hit and run and Tyler said it's fortunate that it didn't have a different outcome.
“Had he gotten to that lane that the car was driving in just a fraction of a second earlier, we'd be talking about serious injuries or possibly even a fatality,” said Tyler.
Cox Media Group
