SEATTLE — A man suspected of aiding an alleged hit-and-run driver who struck two 12-year-old girls, killing one of them, was arrested in Pierce County Thursday according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.
The suspect was spotted by an undercover deputy. The driver attempted to flee, hitting a semi-truck and a pole before he was apprehended, according to the sheriff's department. The driver was taken to a local hospital and will be booked into the Pierce County Jail for rendering criminal aid, possession of a stolen vehicle and burglary.
The man suspected of the fatal hit-and-run was arrested Wednesday morning.
“The worst thing that can happen to you is losing your child,” said John Goldade, the father of Immaculee, the young girl killed in the hit-and-run. “I can’t think of anything worse that could happen to me. I’d rather had it been me.”
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department said SWAT surrounded Terry Matthew James Kohl's home where he surrendered without incident just before 6 a.m.
The sheriff's department said Kohl was reportedly seen getting out of the truck involved in the crash at a local gas station after it was reportedly stolen on Saturday.
The victims, identified as Immaculee Goldade and Kathleen Olson, were struck by a flatbed truck on 14th Street East near 14th Avenue Ct. East while they were walking home. Goldade was killed.
“It feels really good that they caught the guy, but my daughter is still not here,” said John Goldade.
Kohl was booked into the Pierce County Jail for vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, felony hit and run death, hit and run injury, possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree burglary.
Sergeant Darren Moss, a spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, said they recovered other items stolen from the burglary, as well as another stolen vehicle.
Kohl is expected to be formally charged on Thursday.
Records show Kohl has been convicted of five felonies in the past, including possession of a stolen vehicle and assault.
The sheriff's department had offered a $1,000 reward to anyone with information.
“I kind of lost hope that they would ever catch the guy,” John Goldade said. “We made a plea for him to turn himself in and he didn’t.”