Crime & Safety
Dad Filling Gas Tank Killed Along I-5 In Tacoma
The 43-year-old Tacoma man was outside his car filling his gas tank when another vehicle hit him near the Tacoma Dome.
TACOMA, WA - A 43-year-old father was killed late Wednesday night along I-5 near the Tacoma Dome. Kenneth Oatts, a Tacoma resident, was standing alongside his daughter's car filling the gas tank, according to reports, when another vehicle hit him.
According to Washington State Patrol, Oatts was standing alongside a car parked partially in the left lane south of the Tacoma Dome filling the gas tank. A car driven by Phillip Urban, 25, of Auburn, was traveling in that lane and hit Oatts.
Oatts' daughter had called him to fill her gas tank, KIRO 7 reported. Three young women - ages 19, 20, and 24 - were in the car whose tank Oatts was filling, but none of them were injured. Urban was not injured and is not expected to face any charges, according to state patrol.
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The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and kept the left lane of I-5 closed for more than three hours.
Car/pedestrian fatality collision SB I5 just south of the Tacoma Dome. 2 lanes blocked. Troopers investigating and IRT en route.
— Trooper Brooke Bova (@wspd1pio) August 31, 2017
Victim putting gas in vehicle, partially blocking right lane when struck by car. PLEASE Stay inside car if you break down or crash on I5!
— Trooper Brooke Bova (@wspd1pio) August 31, 2017
Image via Shutterstock
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