Snowmobiler Dies From Injuries

Tue., Dec. 19, 2000

A Spokane man died from injuries he received in a Friday night snowmobile accident.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said Timothy R. Coffey, 26, was thrown off his snowmobile while he was trying to get help for a friend who was injured on a 6-wheel allterrain vehicle at about 10 p.m. Sunday.

Coffey rode his snowmobile to another friend’s home on Tudor Lane in north Spokane. He was returning to the injured friend and being followed by a third person in a pickup truck.

The pickup’s driver arrived at the intersection of Tudor Lane and Owens Road and saw Coffey’s overturned snowmobile in a field, on the other side of a damaged fence, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators believe Coffey may have failed to negotiate a turn and hit a snow berm, throwing him off the snowmobile.

A fence post had been knocked down, but it’s not clear if Coffey or his snowmobile hit the post, the sheriff’s office said. He was not wearing a helmet and received head injuries.

Coffey was airlifted to a hospital, but died Sunday evening, the sheriff’s office said.

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