SEQUIM — A 50-year-old Sequim man was taken off life support and died Saturday, two days after being hit by an allegedly drunken driver while walking on a sidewalk.
Sequim Sgt. Ken Almberg said Scott G. Franklin was taken off life support machines at about 4 p.m. at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said at 9 p.m. that Franklin had died.
Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Troberg said Friday that the accused drunken driver, Gene S. Mensik, would be charged with vehicular homicide if Franklin died.
Mensik, 51, also of Sequim, remained in the Clallam County jail Saturday. His bond was set at $100,000 Friday during his first court appearance.
He was booked into jail for investigation of driving while under the influence of intoxicants, hit-and-run injury and vehicular assault.
Formal charges will be filed by his next court appearance Tuesday.
Police said Mensik hit Franklin with his Jeep Wrangler at about 7:15 a.m. Thursday on the 600 block of East Washington Street in Sequim.
Almberg said it appeared that Mensik struck Franklin while attempting to get back on the road.
He drove on the sidewalk for about 30 feet to 50 feet, said Sequim Detective Sgt. Sean Madison.
Mensik didn’t stop after striking Franklin and continued driving for another 11 blocks until he reached the parking lot outside the J.C. Penney store at the 600 block of West Washington Street, Madison said.
The detective sergeant said police caught up to Mensik there and followed him into the parking lot. Officers approached him as he got out of his vehicle.
Madison said Mensik was visibly intoxicated.
Mensik tried to walk away from the officers but was arrested without incident, Madison said.
“He was not exactly what I call compliant,” Madison said. “He was not physically resistant,” he added.
A portable breath tester registered Mensik’s blood-alcohol level at 0.147 percent about 30 minutes after the hit-and-run, according to court documents. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.
Madison said police have no reports of Mensik driving erratically before or after the alleged hit-and-run.
A witness said he was driving fine until he drove suddenly onto the sidewalk and hit Franklin, the detective sergeant said.
“He drove several blocks without a problem,” Madison said.
“It was only within that 30- to 50-foot window that he jerked onto the sidewalk, struck Mr. Franklin and then went back onto the road and did not stop,” Madison said.
Almberg said police don’t believe Mensik intended to hit Franklin.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
