VANCOUVER — On Sat., Feb. 25, at approximately 11:35 p.m., personnel from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Vancouver Fire were dispatched to what was reported as a vehicle motorcycle collision in the 2300 block of Northeast Minnehaha Street.
Arriving units located a pedestrian who had been struck and was down in the travel lane of eastbound Minnehaha. There was a shopping cart on its side near the pedestrian.
Rescue personnel checked the pedestrian, later identified as Richard Waller, 44, of Vancouver, and found that he was deceased. Witnesses stated that the pedestrian was walking eastbound in the inside eastbound lane pushing the shopping cart when he was struck by a small older white import sedan that then fled the scene at a high rate of speed, going eastbound. The victim was wearing dark clothing.
According to a news release from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, at 11:17 a.m. on Sun., Feb. 26, Chris Ramsey, a local attorney, called 9-1-1 on behalf of a client to report she was turning herself in on the hit and run collision.
Detectives with the Sheriff’s Traffic Unit contacted 35-year-old Jessica Bankhead, of Vancouver. She admitted to being the driver of the 1988 Nissan Pathfinder that struck the pedestrian. Bankhead was booked into the Clark County Jail for felony hit and run. Her vehicle was located and seized as evidence. There was damage to the vehicle consistent with the collision.
Detectives believe that alcohol may have been a factor in the collision.
