South Sound News

Drunk driver accused of hitting, killing man on golf cart in Key Peninsula

TACOMA, Wash. — A Key Peninsula man is dead after an accused drunk driver hit his golf cart on Wright-Bliss Road Monday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said the car’s driver, Ty Fuller, was seen speeding down Wright-Bliss Road seconds before the crash.

“He was doing, I’m guessing, 80 miles an hour, and just blew right into him,” Dan Wehmeier said. “Bodies went flying into the ditch.”

The crash killed Gary Moody, 65, who was driving the golf cart. Moody's passenger was injured.

Wehmeier said he and Mike Fjermedal ran to the crash scene to administer first aid to the two men.

“One guy did not make it,” Fjermedal said. “We were trying to give him CPR and he did not make it.”

Investigators said Fuller, 49, didn't stop after the crash. He sped from the scene and drove into oncoming traffic, slamming into a car as he tried to get away, according to charges.

He then ran to his home a short distance from the scene where he refused to surrender to deputies.

“We trapped him inside the residence and through some negotiation we were able to get him out and get him into custody,” Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman detective Ed Troyer said.

Investigators said Fuller had been drinking before the crash and are awaiting the results of a drug test.

Fjermedal and Wehmeier said they were picking up their kids at a school bus stop when they saw the crash and that if the crash had happened a few minutes later, Fuller might have hit a bus filled with students.

“It’s a very sad deal,” Fjermedal said/ “It’s what happens when you drink and drive though.”

“I’m really mad,” Wehmeier added. “You crash into something like that, you should own up to your mistake and not run from the scene.”

Fuller pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and failing to remain at the scene of an accident. His bail was set at $2 million. Prosecutors told the court he had two previous DUIs on his record.