Pickup runs over 5-year-old girl on bike

A man in a pickup ran over a 5-year-old girl on a bike Thursday as he was pulling out of a fast-food restaurant’s driveway in Spokane Valley.

The girl, who was not identified, was riding her bike on the sidewalk in front of Wendy’s Hamburgers on North Sullivan Road, police said. The man in the pickup said he never saw her.

The girl was being held overnight at a hospital for observation, Spokane Valley police spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.

Byron Wittwer, 28, of Spokane, was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian, a $153 fine. A bicyclist on the sidewalk is considered a pedestrian.

“As far as I’m concerned, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Wittwer said. “If I can’t see something, I can’t react to it.”

Officer Eric Epperson said even if the girl had been seriously injured or died as a result of the crash, the only thing Wittwer could have been charged with was failure to yield.

“There was no recklessness, no negligence and no alcohol,” Epperson said.

About 11:55 a.m., Wittwer was waiting to turn left from the driveway of Wendy’s after grabbing lunch in the drive-through.

Wittwer said a child on a scooter cruised in front of his black Mazda truck, followed by another child on a bike, and he thought the sidewalk was clear.

He said he noticed a motorist on the roadway honking and waving at him but thought it was a signal to go.

He said he pulled across the sidewalk and heard a crunch. The sound was the girl’s tiny, pink Huffy bicycle.

Witnesses said the truck’s front tire rolled over the girl’s torso.

Wittwer said the next thing he saw was people pulling the 5-year-old to safety.

He backed his pickup into Wendy’s parking lot.

“I never saw the little bike,” Wittwer said. “It all happened in about 45 seconds.”

The girl, who lives on East Valley Way, was treated by paramedics before being taken to a downtown Spokane hospital, Reagan said.

Janice Bassett was one of several witnesses who saw the accident. She said the girl was peddling as fast as she could to keep up with her two brothers when she was hit by the truck.

Bassett said that she, along with other motorists, saw Wittwer drive over the girl and yelled for him to stop.

“He just kept saying he didn’t see her,” Bassett said.

“And pointed out she wasn’t wearing a (bike) helmet, like he was trying to blame her.”

Bassett recognized the girl and said the child wouldn’t let her leave, since hers was the only face she knew among the crowd of adults.