A Bellevue street sweeper strikes, kills a pedestrian

A 44-year-old Bellevue man was struck and killed on Monday, Feb. 19, when a city street sweeper put his vehicle in reverse and ran over him.The incident occurred right around 11 a.m. near a construction site at 1375 Northeast 120th Street.

Investigators with the Bellevue Police Department have obtained surveillance camera footage from the area that suggests that the man was potentially crouching down to tie his shoes at the time of the incident.

A Kings County Medical Examiner, who conducted an autopsy on the man, determined that he suffered blunt-force trauma to his chest and head. The incident is being referred to as an accident.

Investigators have since determined that the 67-year-old driver was operating a street sweeper with a backup camera installed at the time of the incident. It's not yet clear if it was functional at the time, however. It's also not yet clear whether the street sweeper was equipped with a functional alarm that would sound when it was put into reverse.

The street sweeper was apparently working as a subcontractor for an excavation cleanup company, Enviro Clean Leasing, at the time of the incident. It's apparently a requirement for all construction companies to hire street sweepers to maintain their properties while work is in progress. Police have ruled out the possibility that the driver was impaired at the time.

As for the decedent, his ex-wife notes that their sons, age 8 and 14, have had difficulty accepting that their dad is gone. Incidentally, the man was expecting another son with his second wife at the time of his death. She is due to give birth in one month.

The man had originally emigrated from his native Moldova as part of a green-card lottery in 2006. He'd been a professional Christian singer in the years leading up to his divorce in 2015. After divorcing his wife, he became a tractor-trailer driver.

He'd reportedly just arrived back in town not long before the incident. On the day he died, his roommates noted he mentioned walking to check on his truck. It's as he was en route there that he was struck and killed.

If your loved one has been killed by a motorist, a Redmond motor vehicle accident attorney may advise you of your right to file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover funeral costs and lost wages in your case.

Source: The Seattle Times, "Man killed by street sweeper in Bellevue may have been tying shoe when he was struck," Sara Jean Green, Feb. 20, 2018

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