June 8, 2012: Tips helped Seattle police arrest suspect in fatal hit-and-run
Update: More information on The Seattle Times.
In a press conference this morning, the Seattle Police Department announced it had made an arrest in the hit-and-run crime that killed Mike Wang last July. Police have taken Erlin Garcia-Reyes, 28 of Normandy Park, into custody.
Last July, when word of Mike Wang's death hit our community, all of us were deeply shaken. Mr. Wang had been a Cascade Bicycle Club member, and he rode in our annual Commute Challenge event last May. Many of you are getting ready to celebrate at the 2012 Group Health Commute Challenge wrap-party tonight. Mike was a "one-hundred-percenter" in 2011, meaning he made all of his commutes to work by bike. And by all accounts he was a man who loved riding his bike from his home in Shoreline to his office in South Lake Union.
I cannot imagine the great sadness his family felt that day and every day since. No one should kiss their loved ones goodbye only to learn they were later injured and left for dead in the road.
We must do better. Every person reading this helps set the tone on the streets.
Seattle is a vibrant, urban environment, full of people. We are all trying get where we need to go, safely and efficiently. It is every person's shared responsibility to look out for each other. Put down the phone. Stop texting. Unplug your ears. Obey the laws. Slow down and -- most of all -- look where you are going. Watch out for one other. You don't want to be on either side of a tragic collision that you could have prevented.
While we hope announcements like this never need to be made again, we hope it will lead to some closure. We are grateful to the Seattle Police Department for their persistent detective work, for not giving up, and for bringing a criminal to justice. It took ten months of “good old-fashioned police work,” according Detective Tom Bacon who was working the investigation. The police said that help from the community made a difference and that a series of events and information led the investigative team to Mr. Garcia-Reyes. To those who came forward and spoke up: Thank you.
We now call on the prosecuting attorney to take up the important work of seeing this criminal offense through to the fullest penalties available so that justice is served.
If you're a #GHCC rider at the wrap-party tonight, let's raise a pint in honor of Mike Wang.
Share this post
