New clues in bicyclist hit-run: Police know what kind of car they’re looking for

This might be the clue that solves the case of the bicycle rider hit by a driver last month near the east end of the “low bridge,” and left lying in the road, badly hurt. Seattle Police say the hit-run driver would have been in a metallic blue Saturn S series car similar to the one shown above:

After processing evidence found at the scene of a May 22nd crash on Harbor Island, investigators have the type of car driven by a suspect, who struck a cyclist and sped away.

Witnesses found the bloodied and seriously injured cyclist lying in the street at 11 Ave. SW and SW Spokane St around 8:20 PM and called 911.

Seattle Fire Department Medics responded and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Traffic Collision Investigation (TCIS) detectives also responded to the scene and are investigating the case. Detectives believe the victim was struck while riding westbound along Spokane Street.

After painstaking work identifying vehicle fragments left at the scene, detectives have determined the suspect was driving a Saturn S series car. The car is painted metallic blue and after the crash was missing its passenger side mirror. A section of the bumper was also left at the scene of the crime.

Detectives are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crime or have seen a car matching the description to please call Detective Andrew Norton at (206) 684-8934.

To see more photos – go to the full post on SPD Blotter. Police had already said they believed a metallic-blue car was involved – but this is the first time they’ve publicized further details of the crash that sent 30-year-old John Macy to the hospital.

miws June 19, 2014 (6:25 pm)

Good. Hopefully this will be a big step in finding the alleged culprit, and will result in some Justice for Mr. Macy.

Mike

JayDee June 19, 2014 (7:44 pm)

My grammar beef is “Exemplar Vehicle Only”…really? That is the ideal Saturn S series car? How about “example vehicle only.” If it was the suspect vehicle, why show the picture? I know, I know. I yam what I yam. Clarity in communication makes everything easier. I hope they find the coward that hit this cyclist. If a suspect is driving such an old car the damage may still be visible (vs. a 2010 BMW X5).

Jane June 19, 2014 (9:06 pm)

“Clarity in communication makes everything easier”
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Except when one is griping about grammar, in which case it doesn’t matter how clear you’re being, you’re still wasting people’s time.
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Back on topic.. This incident is just a symptom of a bigger problem: Driving as a right and not a privilege. Time for fewer cars on the road, fewer drivers, and an end to the holocaust on our roads killing 30,000 of our fellow Americans annually. Where is the outrage? This is not ok.

Mike June 19, 2014 (9:58 pm)

1) bumper on the example car is matte black unpainted.
2) Since their example cars bumper is not representative of the sample piece left at the scene, how do they know it’s part of the bumper?
3) If they know the car is missing the mirror, why show an example piece and not the actual mirror they found (painted, unpainted, mismatched colors?)
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Jane, vehicles are a necessity in our lives. You cannot bicycle every thing every where you go. It’s just how it is. Driving is a privilege, as is getting to eat food you buy from a grocery store that was shipped by VEHICLES to that store you buy it from which was grown on farms that used VEHICLES. If you have not heard, there’s a major shift in the automobile industry right now towards EV and Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles. You’ll see many more of these starting in 2015. It will become mainstream for new vehicle sales as of around 2020. Does that help death by vehicle, no, does it help death by cancer which completely trumps vehicle accident deaths every year? Yes.
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There’s also a database of every car registered in this state that the police will be looking into for potential matches. I assume they’ve already got a decent idea of who owned cars with this color/make/model.

Maddie June 20, 2014 (6:18 am)

Mike vehicles are a necessity only because we’ve built our lives around them. Surely we survived before they came around, no? All it takes is one creative alternative and this “necessity” is replaced by a better alternative.

Jane June 20, 2014 (9:41 am)

It’s sad that people like Mike think that it’s ok that so many of our fellow citizens are being killed every year. Unamerican to say the least.

cjboffoli June 20, 2014 (10:49 am)

Great detective work SPD! There can’t be that many blue Saturns in West Seattle. I hope this will lead to someone being held responsible.
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Maddie: Well said! Billions of people manage to live just fine on this planet without a private car. And North Americans were fine without cars for hundreds of years. Since the mid 1940’s the American landscape has been engineered to keep people dependent on cars. GM, Firestone and Standard Oil were all behind lobbying efforts to remove streetcar systems from a number of American cities. Our dependence on private cars is hugely resource-intensive, making the USA guilty of using a disproportionate amount of energy for its population size. Taking into account tens of thousands of injuries and deaths from cars every year, massive oil spills, and decades of wars and conflict to ensure a steady oil supply, cars exact a tremendous toll on our quality of life.
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It’s particularly disheartening that so many people lack the imagination to conceive of a better system, especially in light of how often people in Seattle sit in endless traffic every day.

Dan June 20, 2014 (2:34 pm)

Prepare to fine the driver up to $175:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Driver-who-hit-killed-teenage-cyclist-fined-just-175-263762391.html

West Seattle Hipster June 20, 2014 (4:38 pm)

“holocaust on our roads” Jane? For a second I thought I was reading The Onion when I saw your comments.

Mike June 20, 2014 (6:26 pm)

WS Hipster, Jane thinks I believe it’s okay for people to be killed. She’s delusional or just spouts ignorant rants without anything to back it up.
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cjboffoli, farmers in Eastern WA laugh that you live in Seattle with traffic and can touch your neighbors house within about an arms length and so much pollution.

Wendy June 21, 2014 (8:17 am)

I believe that roads should be more bike friendly, and people should be more attentive to everything while driving.
But to bash every one that drives? Cars are a necessity. Driving to work takes 20 minutes, as it takes 2 1/2 hours if I bike/bus ONE WAY. And not even get there on time.
Moving to the city? The rents are outrageous, affordable grocery stores are rare, and I would be poorer.
I could only imagine myself up at 3:30 am,getting the baby up at 3:45 am, leave at 4:20 am, in the dark, rain/cold/sleet ect, and bike to daycare. Then bike/bus to work.
Looks like my misery would make someone else happy.
Just be more attentive to others around you. Simple.

cjboffoli June 21, 2014 (12:51 pm)

An interesting and timely article on VICE that points out that around 700 bicyclists are hit and killed by drivers every year in the U.S. Yet only one in five of those drivers will ever face charges:

http://www.vice.com/read/you-can-kill-anyone-you-want-with-your-car-as-long-as-you-dont-really-mean-it

sam-c June 24, 2014 (11:15 am)

I don’t know why this poor guy’s accident had turned into yet another bike v car debate…..
but.
yes, for goodness sakes, if there were more (good) childcare options near people’s houses and/ or workplaces, people wouldn’t rely so much on their cars. now, people have to take what they can find. maybe the great one ‘nearby’ has an impenetrable waiting list and they have to accept a spot at a daycare 3 miles out of the way and not on the way to their office. but the impossible state of childcare in this city is what keeps me in my car.
whatever. if i were a photographer that made my own schedule, living my life without family obligations, I am definitely sure I could do anything I wanted in this city on foot, bike, or bus.
oh wait, I did. for about 3ish years in grad school, I drove so infrequently I usually had to get a jump start if i needed to drive to IKEA or hiking in the mountains.
but not everyone’s lifestyle is like that.

when I could take a studio, there were affordable options anywhere. lived in Cap hill for many years. hardly ever drove then, either. walked to work, walked to the movies, walked to the grocery store, walked to the park.
as Wendy mentioned, cost. there is certainly nothing in my families’ price range w/ 2 bedrooms near pedestrian friendly areas. so guess what, we live in a house where we mostly drive to day care, grocery store, heck, even downtown since there’s short window to do things before it’s nap time.

tl/dr: families would be able to drive less if there were more/ better childcare options around the city. there are a lot of families here in West Seattle, they use their cars, get over it.

Sorry, comment time is over.