Suspect’s account fails to line up with court affidavit in fatal auto-pedestrian crash in northeast Spokane

Moments after striking three people with her car in a Safeway parking lot, 24-year-old Brittney Moen walked through the store and into the bathroom.

Four minutes later, according to video surveillance footage, she exited the business doors on the north side, where she faced witnesses and firefighters scrambling to provide medical attention to Scotty Keller, 26, Sheera Cunningham, 38, and a still unidentified male, known only as “John Doe” in court documents.

The unidentified male later died of his injuries in a hospital. Spokane police and the Spokane County medical examiner still don’t know who he is.

Moen, who was arrested Sunday and is charged with two counts of vehicular assault and one count of vehicular homicide, told police and witnesses that her car’s alignment was to blame for throwing her vehicle onto the sidewalk after hitting a speed bump in the parking lot of a northeast Spokane Safeway at 3919 N. Market St. She told police she couldn’t have been going faster than 10 mph.

But according to a lengthy affidavit accompanying her first court appearance Monday afternoon, the 24-year-old likely was going much faster. Police were able to approximate a diagram of the incident and concluded Moen was traveling “at a speed much faster than the ten miles per hour stated by the defendant” when her car jumped the curb and slammed into the side of a Subway restaurant near Safeway, hitting three people.

Police noted two strikes to the curb, the same distance as the wheel base of Moen’s silver Toyota Celica, and did not see “any evidence of braking prior to striking the curb, and there was no roadway evidence on the sidewalk to indicate the driver made any attempt to brake or slow down the vehicle until after the collision had occurred.”

During Moen’s arrest, police also found a small plastic straw and a piece of aluminum foil on her person. They determined there was no visual evidence to suggest Moen was under the influence at the time of the crash, but a search warrant was served to test her blood anyway.

In court Monday, the 24-year-old was quiet as District Judge Richard Leland read aloud the charges. The state’s attorney argued to keep bond at $50,000, as set by a weekend judge, citing the seriousness of the crimes and Moen’s alleged false statements to police that she wasn’t speeding.

Moen’s defense attorney reserved argument on bond amount, instead asking the court to “keep bond as low as it pleases.” Bond was set at $50,000.

The victims she hit apparently were homeless, according to police. Keller, who was recovering from injuries in a hospital when he talked to officers, said he slept at that location after meeting Cunningham and the unknown male. He said he was hit by the vehicle but doesn’t remember anything.

Cunningham also slept there. She told police she knew the unidentified male only as “Doughboy.” She also does not remember the crash.

A Spokane Fire Department firefighter told police he was off-duty that morning and was shopping at Safeway. As he was leaving, he apparently was approached by Keller, who “told him he had just been hit by a car and asked him for help.”

According to court records, Moen has a history of speeding and driving under the influence. In 2013, she was cited for speeding 20 mph over the speed limit. In 2015, for speeding again and driving without insurance. In January of this year, she was arrested for DUI and driving without insurance.