Suspect arrested in car-runner incident

ROYAL CITY - A 23-year-old Othello man was arrested last week for the July 28 car-runner incident in which a Royal City jogger was injured

Injured near Road 10 Southeast and Highway 262 was Royal City resident Jackie Monney 33. She was hit twice by the same car.

Saul Angeles Pamas voluntarily went to the Grant County Sheriff's Office in Ephrata on Monday. He was interviewed by investigators and was then arrested on suspicion of second degree assault, and hit and run with injury to a person.

"This was the kind of case which stunned the public as well as investigators," Sheriff Tom Jones said. "I'm glad the suspect was caught, and I am inspired by the victim's strength and will to survive such an ordeal."

According to Jones, the incident occurred at around 6:10 p.m. Emergency responders were called for an auto-pedestrian accident near the 900 block of County Road 10 Southeast, about 10 miles east of Royal City.

According to Jones, Monney told deputies that she was running along Road 10 SE near Highway 262 when a white Oldsmobile sedan approached and stopped. She said the driver, unknown to her, asked if she wanted a ride.

Monney declined and told the driver she was exercising. The vehicle then drove away, turned around, drove past the victim, and turned around again, she said.

According to Jones, the car then drove off the road and struck Monney from behind, knocking her to the ground. The car then turned around and struck Monney again, dragging her a short distance before speeding away.

Jones said Monney was able to get the attention of a nearby property owner who called 9-1-1. Monney was taken by ambulance to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake. She was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

A short time later, Jones said, a Washington State Patrol trooper found the Oldsmobile parked unoccupied at a home about three miles away. It was impounded as evidence.