SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — The suspect of a hit-and-run told Washington State Patrol he could not fully remember causing the crash that injured two people in apparent road rage.
64-year-old Scott Beeching turned himself in to law enforcement Wednesday afternoon for a hit-and-run on a vehicle on I-90 near Argonne in Spokane Valley.
According to court documents, Beeching told troopers a vehicle was stopped at a light in front of him and the driver was on the phone. When the light turned green, the vehicle did not go, and Beeching honked his horn.
Court documents say both drivers flipped each other off as well.
Beeching then said he thought the vehicle brake checked him multiple times, but Beeching could not remember causing a crash.
When interviewed by WSP, the victims reported seeing Beeching’s vehicle tailgating them and rear-ending them multiple times before their bumpers locked and their vehicle was sent off the road. The victim also told WSP he was driving a manual transmission that Beeching may have mistaken for brake checking.
The victim vehicle rolled multiple times up an embankment and landed back on its wheels. The male driver suffered minor injuries, and the female passenger was taken to the hospital with lacerations and a broken rib.
During his interview, Beeching told WSP he and his wife’s home had mold which caused him to be sick. He was driving to meet his wife at a hotel. There she told him about the crash and Beeching said he remembered being in the area at the time.
WSP says surveillance footage of a possible suspect vehicle matched the same truck Beeching drove in to the WSP office to turn himself in.
Beeching was arrested for felony hit-and-run and faces assault charges.
He made his first court appearance Thursday. Prosecutors pushed for a $15,000 bond, but defense argued he should either be released on his own accord or the bond should be reduced to $1,500 since Beeching had no previous criminal record.
Commissioner Eugene Cruz ended up setting Beeching’s bond at $15,000. Cruz cited the reason for the bond amount was because the victim’s vehicle had been rammed three times and when it rolled, Beeching did not stop to help.
The next hearing is set for January 14.
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