Police continue search for hit-and-run driver

03:36 PM PDT on Sunday, October 9, 2005

KING 5 Staff

ISSAQUAH, Wash. – Police on Sunday continued to search for the truck driver who hit a woman in Issaquah Friday night, leaving her with severe head injuries.

Fifty-five-year-old Uta Michl, who is visiting the Seattle area from Austria, was left lying in the road. She is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center.

KING

Uta Michl is visiting from Austria.

Police were called to Highlands Drive after a passerby noticed a woman lying unconscious on the roadway. They believe Michl was hit by a truck around 7:30 p.m.

“It was apparent she had been struck by a vehicle, the vehicle left the scene," said Cmdr. Stan Conrad of the Issaquah police department.

Police could tell from the skid marks what type of truck it was and that the driver slammed on the brakes but kept going.

"The vehicle we’re looking for is a three-quarter ton or one-ton flatbed truck with a dual-wheel axle, it left some dual-wheel skid marks at the scene," Conrad said.

Police now want the public's help to find the hit-and-run driver, or hope to hear from the driver.

KING

Skid marks have revealed the type of truck involved in the accident.

The truck may have a broken headlamp, turn signal, or some other type of front-end damage.

"I think a person that did it likely knows they had an accident, they may not know what they hit in the roadway, but they should contact Issaquah police immediately," Conrad said.

Michl's childhood friend, Karin Czulik, a producer at KING5.com, said this was her friend's first trip to America. The teacher and musician arrived in Seattle three days ago for a three-week vacation.

"We spent the day in Seattle,” said Czulik. “She took the bus home and she was on her way from the bus stop to my house."

The house is about a mile from the bus stop at the Highlands Park-and-Ride. It's not known if Michl was trying to cross the street on the corner of the road of if she was struck in the roadway.

Michl's husband and children are on their way to Seattle.