West Seattle Blog… | CRIME WATCH FOLLOW-UP: Suspect arrested in hit-and-run death of Tommy Joe Garrett

(Photo of the victim as shown at the April 27 vigil)

Three and a half weeks after an 81-year-old was killed by a driver Tommy Joe Garrett on the 15th/Roxbury, the King County Sheriff's Office has announced an arrest. Here is the press release:

King County Sheriff's Office detectives have arrested a fatal hit-and-run pedestrian
at White Center on April 22, 2024. On April 22, 2024, just after 10 p.m., an 81-year-old man was crossing SW Roxbury Street at 15th Ave SW when he was fatally struck by a vehicle during the hours of darkness. The vehicle did not stop and fled the scene of the accident. Investigators were able to identify the fleeing vehicle as a silver Jeep Compass. Over the next few weeks, KCSO detectives continued to investigate the area

Businesses and homes to track the vehicle's route before and after the collision. This eventually led them to identify the license plate of a vehicle facing the driver, a single 37-year-old male driver. With the help of King County Metro Transit PD's Street Crimes Unit, the driver was arrested without incident during a traffic stop yesterday as he left a home in the Puyallup area. He was eventually booked into the King County Jail for investigation into the fatal hit-and-run accident. The driver subsequently admitted that he had taken the Jeep to Port Orchard, where he left it parked under a tarp at the residence of a family member. King County Sheriff's Office detectives recovered the vehicle and returned it to King County for evidence and processing.

This case remains an active and open investigation. We are not releasing the suspect's name because the King County Prosecutor's Office has not yet filed charges against him. We hope to release more information when the case is closed.

We're working to find out more and will update this story with more details when we do.