PORT ANGELES — A pedestrian died early Sunday morning when he was struck by a speeding car on U.S. Highway 101 near Fairmount Avenue on Port Angeles” west side.
Port Angeles police will not release details of the incident until today, including the victim’s name.
The driver of the car also was not named.
The car, a red Mustang, was traveling at 114 mph at one point, according to PenCom dispatcher logs that set the time at 1:20 a.m.
An eyewitness said the male pedestrian was thrown 50 feet into the air when struck by the car near 1137 W. Highway 101.
He was dead at the scene, the witness said.
Initial police reports from the scene said the eastbound Mustang’s young male driver fled on foot but was arrested at the bottom of the Tumwater Truck Route.
Alcohol was a factor in the death, reports said.
The highway was closed to traffic while police investigated the incident.
The eyewitness, Jeremiah Washburn, said he saw the pedestrian walking in the road near the Welcome Inn RV and Mobile Home Park.
“I’d seen the guy walking in the road and I turned around,” he said, to try to protect the pedestrian. He told his passenger to call police.
It was then “I saw this Mustang haul . . . right past me,” he said. “I said, ‘He’s going to get hit.’
“The next thing I know, we watched him go up about 50 feet into the air.”
Washburn, 27, a chef at Landing’s Restaurant and Dockside Lounge, said police arrived almost immediately.
“It was an awful sight to see,” he said. “I can still hear the noise.”
