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Man charged with hitting Jimmy John’s delivery person and fleeing the scene

Two people call for care on the roads near the Ave and Campus Parkway at the 2011 Safe Streets Social
Two people call for care on the roads near the Ave and Campus Parkway at the 2011 Safe Streets Social

A man who allegedly struck and injured a person making deliveries for Jimmy John’s in the U District has been charged with felony hit and run, KIRO TV reports.

The collision occurred on the Ave at Campus Parkway, the same intersection where Robert Townsend died in a 2011 collision while delivering for Jimmy John’s.

Malcolm Beaver, 20, was driving southbound on the Ave as the victim was biking north in the bike lane. Beaver made a left and turned into the victim and struck him. Beaver did not stop and instead accelerated from the scene, turned right on 15th and fled, according to court documents.


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The victim was left with serious injuries, the worst being a knee fracture that required surgery.

Police located Beaver in his Jeep Cherokee a couple days later, and he admitted to the officer that he had hit the victim while turning and then fled the scene. He told the officer that he panicked after the collision because he did not have a driver’s license or insurance.

He also told the officer that he felt bad about what happened and wanted to get it off his conscience, according to court documents.

Beyond the case against Beaver, the incident brings up issues of bike safety on the Ave. As this is at least the second time someone biking has been injured by left turns at this intersection in recent memory (both times, the people driving said they didn’t see the person biking), it’s past time for they city to look at what can be done to increase safety here and at other tricky Campus Parkway intersections.


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18 responses to “Man charged with hitting Jimmy John’s delivery person and fleeing the scene”

  1. Peri Hartman

    One solution is better pavement, free of debris, holes, and bumps. Why? The less distraction where I have to watch the pavement means the more I can focus on what traffic is doing.

  2. A

    Not specifically related to this incident, but jimmy johns really needs to rein in their bike delivery people. They’re consistently the most dangerous people on bikes on the roads in Seattle, blowing lights, riding against traffic, acting like wannabe messengers and generally giving the rest of us a bad name.

    1. A

      “I personally worked as delivery driver at four Seattle stores and although the managers were good people, Glen and local owners actively and enthusiastically encouraged drivers to totally neglect all traffic rules. It was a contest to see who could absolutely defy all traffic laws, courtesies and good practices and again the owners intentionally penalized us if we didnt.”

      http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2011/09/12/robert-townsend-killed-in-u-district-was-fastest-delivery-person-on-staff/

    2. Chris

      Re: “acting like wannabe messengers”, they ARE messengers. Does it matter if your bag is filled with paper or sammies? If your job is bringing people things via bicycle I would say “bike messenger” is a pretty fair job title. Giving “the rest of us a bad name”? That seems the same BS certain road-nannys try laying on people without helmets. Messengers have earned every bit of reputation (good and bad) they have with or without JJ’s.

    3. Teri

      “A”, it seems like you might give bike messengers a bad name too with your whining. It’s important to remember that Jimmy John’s messengers work very hard because every one of their deliveries is basically a teener. Many of them are arguably some of the harder-working messengers in the city. (The U District store has an especially vast delivery area.) It’s foolish for you to exclude them from your created “messenger world” and suppose that they are not worthy of the title. However, because they have a higher turn-over rate and are more likely to hire “new guys”, maybe you’ve seen more of them who are trying to prove themselves. Or maybe we just notice their bad behavior more often because unlike most messengers, they have to wear their company name on their shirts…

  3. Roy W

    It’s funny you should say that, because I worked as a courier downtown when Jimmy Johns was getting started, and I found myself yelling at those kids multiple time for absolutely senseless moves they made, apparently just to look more dangerous.

    These collisions though it seems pretty damn clear it was the driver’s fault.

  4. merlin

    I don’t recall hearing about this when it happened back in January. Makes me wonder how many serious traffic injuries slip by completely under the radar.

  5. Ramone

    Roy W. you should be ashamed of yourself! It’s an unnatural and cynical reaction to blame the victim. Nowhere in this article does it say that the bicyclist was driving dangerously or erratically or anything else. You add your judgmental prejudicial and meaningless opinion to this in order to puff your own ego. Stick to the facts!

    1. A

      It always amazes me how people with as poor reading comprehension as this post reflects manage to find the “reply” button on internet forums.

  6. rm

    The nice part about cyclists getting hit by cars is how it brings people together. You never see some cynical jerk using the forum to complain about how some people of the victim’s demographic aren’t sufficiently safe for their hand-wringing sensibilities. I’m glad kindness and compassion inevitably rules the day over wastes of human flesh with an axe to grind.

    1. A

      Your attempt at sarcasm is cute, but personally I have no interest in kindness or compassion and will call out idiocy every time. I don’t care how you feel.

      1. Chris

        Cry cry cry comment troll.

  7. Teri

    I really enjoy the photo on this post!

  8. Vancouver WA

    The hit-and-run occurred on January 29 and Beaver was located and confessed “a couple days later.” Why is he only now being charged?

    Best wishes to continue healing, JJ rider.

  9. JimmyRider

    I am the person that was hit. Though I am not able to weigh in on more details of this case right now due to legal reasons, I have a few things to say:

    Thank you “Vancouver WA”, genuinely. I am glad that I have had so much support through this from my fellow employees, Jimmy John’s themselves and the Seattle PD. The court system takes time and I hope we all understand that. There’s only one prosecutor and he has to deal with pretty much everything.

    On another note, I don’t know what some posters on this site, as well as a few other sites are getting at when it comes to our disregarding safety. We are held to the same laws as cars. We are intelligent, conscientious users of the road. We have helmets, brakes and high visibility swag because it is mandated by our company. Disregard for laws is not tolerated. Period.

    Finally, I am healing well, already back on a bike, quite a nice 60’s fixed gear borrowed from my roommate, also a Jimmy rider. I have to have it geared a bit lower than I would before the incident, but them’s the breaks (ha!). I’ll be heading back to work pretty soon with slightly more titanium in my knee, but the same immutable love of getting to ride a bike for a job.

    Thank y’all. Go order a sandwich!

  10. judydcash

    Glad you’re back, and Safe riding to you Jimmy Rider, watch those intersections! (I’m sure you have been;-)
    I was almost hit by left-turn driver of a car at 45th and Brooklyn, it was back behind the crosswalk, then pulled out FAST- I screamed and she stopped so close I was staring down her hood! Then as I started moving again (I was in the crosswalk! biking slowly!) she tried to drive AROUND me, til I screamed again and she finally stopped and waited til I got outta her way.
    I think the problem is people are is a hurry, and it makes them less aware of the space immediate to their path, they are more concerned about ‘beating the other vehicle’ coming in the opposite lane.
    We just need to all follow the rules, and look out for the other as well as ourselves!

    1. Doug Bostrom

      As Judy says, “we just need to all follow the rules…”

      Tom suggests again, “…it’s past time for they city to look at what can be done to increase safety here and at other tricky Campus Parkway intersections.”

      Putting the two together, we already have means to improve safety on the streets but we choose not to use these tools. The tools are called “traffic regulations” and they ‘re essentially not enforced by SPD; it’s possible to drive all day long on Seattle streets at 10mph over the speed limit and never worry for a second about obtaining a traffic ticket, fine and punitive insurance points.

      Enough with “traffic safety studies.” How about doing some material damage to wallets, with a little sincere jail-time thrown in for expediently sorrowful drivers like Beaver?

  11. Becka

    I’m frustrated by Campus Parkway, generally. That street is far too wide for the traffic volumes. I would like to see a Dexter-style redo, with protected bike lanes and bus buffers.

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