Arrest made in Saturday night’s fatal hit-and-run on Minnehaha Street

A Vancouver woman contacted the police and turned herself in Sunday morning in connection with the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian Saturday night, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said an attorney representing Jessica Lyn Bankhead, 35, contacted authorities on her behalf. When she spoke with detectives, she admitted to being the driver of the 1988 Nissan Pathfinder that struck and killed 44-year-old Richard Waller of Vancouver, according to the sheriff’s office.

Around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, deputies and firefighters were called to the 2300 block of Northeast Minnehaha Street following a report of a motorcycle collision. Upon arriving, they found Waller, who was described as living as a transient, dead in the eastbound lanes, and a tipped shopping cart nearby.

The sheriff’s office said witnesses told investigators Waller was walking east in the roadway, pushing the shopping cart, when a vehicle hit him and then sped away.

Bankhead was booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies also seized her vehicle as evidence, and it had damage consistent with the reported collision, according to the sheriff’s office.

Detectives think alcohol use may have been a factor in the crash, the sheriff’s office said, and the investigation was ongoing.