PORT ANGELES — A hearing for a man accused of a hit-and-run wreck that hurt a Forks man Saturday was delayed Thursday because of concerns about the qualifications of the interpreter.
Francisco Comonfort-Soavedra’s first appearance will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14.
The Spanish interpreter for Thursday’s hearing was not court-certified, and it was decided that this did not meet the legal requirements.
Comonfort, 46, turned himself in Wednesday and was booked into the Clallam County jail for investigation of leaving the scene of an injury accident, said Sgt. Ed Anderson of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
Comonfort was released from jail that day and directed to report to Superior Court on Thursday for his first appearance.
Caylen Phegley, 22, was hit by a van Saturday as he rode his motorcycle while bear hunting. He has been treated and discharged from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Anderson said Comonfort admitted to hitting the man during interviews with sheriff’s deputies.
The Saturday evening collision between the van and motorcycle was about 5 miles up the Sekiu River Main Line Logging Road, which is accessed from milepost 10 on state Highway 112.
When deputies arrived at 7:08 p..m., accompanied by law enforcement from La Push Police Department and members of the Clallam Bay Ambulance crew, they found a bent-up motorcycle and a license plate from the van that had struck the motorcycle, Anderson said.
The van had left the scene, and Phegley, the motorcycle rider, already had been taken from the scene, Anderson said.
Comonfort, who had been picking salal for Olympic Evergreen Company in Forks, was identified as the driver of the van, Anderson said.
