A 27-year-old South Kitsap woman was cited for driving without vehicle insurance last weekend after her car struck a horse on Bethel-Burley Road, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office reported.
According to the report, witnesses called 911 shortly before 10 p.m. June 1 to report that an injured brown horse was walking on Bethel-Burley Road near Edmonds Street and had been struck by at least two cars.
When a deputy arrived on scene, two of the witnesses — a 59-year-old man and a 52-year-old man — said they had seen the horse walking in the road and began driving behind it at a very slow rate of speed.
At that point, the witnesses said the horse had already been struck by one vehicle, and while they were following it they saw a red Honda Civic strike the animal head-on.
After hitting the animal, the Honda driver fled the scene, and one of the witnesses said he followed the car to a nearby driveway. There he talked to the female driver, whom he said “begged him” not to call 911.
The deputy noted that the horse was severely injured with a large, gaping wound on its right front quarter and that its right front leg was shattered. A Kitsap Animal Control Officer responded, and a veterinarian later arrived to help euthanize the animal.
Another witnesses on scene identified the horse as a stallion named Romeo that she believed lived on Lider Road. The deputy contacted the owner of the pasture, who responded to the scene and identified the horse as belonging to his cousin.
When told that Animal Control had determined the horse should be euthanized due to the severity of its injuries, the deputy noted that the man seemed “agreeable.”
Eventually, the deputy noted, the driver of the Honda called 911 and responded to the scene at his request.
Upon her arrival, the deputy noted that the car’s windshield was so damaged on the driver’s side it was not possible to see out of it, and the driver admitted that she drove with her head out of the window.
The deputy cited her for not having insurance and for driving with “defective equipment.”
