A woman claiming that she had been the victim of a hit-and-run car accident was arrested on Jan. 20 after it became evident that her story didn’t quite check out. Investigating officers determined that the supposed victim was, instead, the likely perpetrator of an early morning hit-and-run involving three parked vehicles at 42nd Avenue East and East Madison Street.
Around 1:30 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 20, an unknown vehicle smashed into the three cars parked in front of Madison House Real Estate (4227 E. Madison St.). The owner of one of the cars later happened upon the scene and began his own investigation, noticing that there were car parts on the street that did not appear to have come from any of the damaged vehicles.
After using his cell phone to check part numbers against an on-line database, according to the police report, the victim determined that the suspect must have been driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which was now missing a front bumper.
A friend of the victim agreed to drive around the neighborhood to see if he could find a car matching that description and later called the victim to state either that he had seen the car entering Broadmoor through the gate on East Madison Street or he had noticed the car parked on the street inside Broadmoor (the police report is unclear).
The gate guard reportedly told the victim’s friend that he was not allowed to enter Broadmoor (though he was able to turn around by entering and immediately exiting through the gates, according to a follow-up report to the Madison Park Blogger).
The friend also reported that the guard told him that he had not witnessed any damaged vehicles entering Broadmoor through the front gate (the victim’s friend also later told the Madison Park Blogger that he saw the suspect’s damaged and abandoned vehicle just inside the Broadmoor gates; he took a photo of the damaged vehicle).
Meanwhile, the police had been called to a residence in Broadmoor to investigate a report from a female resident that her car had been hit by an unknown “lady” as she was driving somewhere in the vicinity of Leschi.
The officer investigating the 42nd and Madison accident, learning that another officer was investigating a hit-and-run involving a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Broadmoor, made the trip down the street to the gated community. He took with him the suspect bumper found at the accident site.
As it happened, the bumper fit the Jeep Grand Cherokee that had been driven by the supposed Broadmoor hit-and-run victim. This, in spite of the fact that the woman reportedly claimed to the officers that she had not collided with any cars in Madison Park.
The police report states that when police interviewed the gate guard, he admitted that he had seen a damaged car enter Broadmoor that morning, stating that it was a “known vehicle” and that he would recognize the driver on sight.
He also stated, according to the police reported, that he smelled alcohol on the breath of the female driver.
He volunteered to officers that he had video footage of the car returning to Broadmoor following the accident.
After further investigation, the officers placed the woman under arrest for hit-and-run (causing an accident and leaving the scene) and took her to the station, where she was booked.
BRYAN TAGAS write the Madison Park Blogger, from which this story was excerpted with permission. To comment on this story, write to MPTimes@nwlink.com.
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