Bicyclist hurt in hit-and-run crash in Whatcom County, driver faces charge

A Lynden bicyclist was injured in a hit-and-run crash in Everson, and police later caught the suspected driver.

Molly D. Fritz, 27, was riding east on the shoulder of East Pole Road when she was hit by an eastbound pickup truck that drifted onto the shoulder about 7 a.m. Thursday, according to a Washington State Patrol report.

Firefighters took her by ambulance to St. Joseph Hospital, where she was in satisfactory condition Thursday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The crash occurred at the site where Pole Road curves toward the city of Everson.

Everson Police found the suspected driver, Rafael Toribio Lopez, 24, of Everson, who was driving the 2013 Nissan Frontier that hit Fritz, according to the report.

A witness noted the driver’s license plate number and phoned 911 dispatchers, Trooper Kelsey Harding told The Bellingham Herald in an email.

Toribio Lopez was booked on a criminal hit-run charge Thursday afternoon at the Whatcom County Jail, according to online records.

He was released without cash bail after booking.