Bicyclist’s family: Death ‘just too tragic’
The bicyclist killed Monday in downtown Spokane was an electrician and father of six known for his sense of humor.
David L. Squires, 56, was known as “The Sheik” at his electrician job, according to his obituary.
His family said Wednesday they’re not ready to talk about him. “It’s still just too tragic,” said his wife of 19 years, Christy.
His obituary described Squires as a 1971 graduate of North Central High School with a great sense of humor and “a rare ability to capture your imagination with his story telling.”
“He lived an honest and simple life, with an open and generous heart,” his family wrote.
Squires was killed in what police describe as a drunken hit-and-run crash that led to the arrest of a Spokane Valley bar owner, Scott C. Reckord, 49.
Reckord posted $50,000 bond Tuesday after appearing in Spokane County Superior Court on charges of vehicular homicide and felony hit and run.
Reckord was arrested Monday night, accused of hitting Squires at Division Street and Sprague Avenue about 6:40 p.m.
Police said Reckord was driving a silver Dodge pickup north on one-way Division when turned left to go west on Sprague and collided with Squires in a crosswalk. Squires was knocked from his bicycle, then run over by the truck witnesses told police.
Witnesses told police the light was green for the northbound Division Street traffic, according to court documents. Reckord was arrested after police said he failed sobriety tests.
He’d returned to the scene after a driver, Bobby Curtis, and her husband, Jeffrey Curtis, followed him westbound on Sprague, flashing their lights and honking their horn to try to get his attention.
Bobby Curtis “confronted the defendant when they got back to the scene and he denied realizing he had hit anything,” according to court documents.
Squires was pronounced dead at a downtown hospital from skull fractures caused by blunt impact to the head, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Reckord owns Sullivan Scoreboard and is a partner in the LLC that owns Scotty’s Bar and Grill.