Woman charged with hitting a flagger with car in 2018 to be sentenced

Nearly two years after a Friday Harbor flagger was struck by a car in 2018, a woman has pleaded guilty to the crime and will be sentenced.

After pleading guilty to reckless endangerment in San Juan County District Court on Oct. 7, 2020, Brooke Elizabeth Radcliffe, 24, of Bellingham, will be sentenced at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. People interested in attending the hearing can appear in-person at the courthouse, or telephonically by calling the District Court’s dial-in line.

Radcliffe was charged with reckless endangerment in San Juan County District Court in October 2019, nearly one year after she reportedly struck a person, a backhoe and two cars with a van.

At approximately 7:15 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2018, a deputy responded to a report of a hit-and-run involving a road construction flagger at the intersection of Spring Street and Argyle Avenue. Dispatch told the deputy that the woman flagger was struck by a vehicle which then fled the scene and that the driver was detained by several citizens.

Radcliffe was allegedly driving a van when she allegedly struck the first vehicle while backing out of a spot in a parking lot for a Friday Harbor business. She reportedly “burned out her tires” and proceeded to Spring Street, where she was alleged to have struck the rear left corner of a white van that was stopped for traffic.

As Radcliffe neared the traffic circle, she reportedly disobeyed the flagger’s signals to stop. She then struck the victim and a backhoe with the van, according to a witness who was operating the machinery. The witness then said he began to pursue the vehicle with the backhoe onto Nichols Street, where he said the van pulled over and “smoke[d] the tires.” Using the backhoe, the witness said he blocked the van in where it was stopped.

The flagger was transported to the hospital for treatment of injuries sustained.

The deputy continued in his report that Radcliffe answered his questions with single words and appeared to not comprehend the conversation. She also was unable to control her bladder, the deputy reported. A paramedic drew her blood for testing.

Radcliffe was also issued a citation for not having insurance and for not having a driver’s license on her person.