SEATTLE — A man accused of killing a bicyclist in a hit-and-run near the West Seattle low bridge pleaded not guilty Monday.
Mohamed Yusuf, 20, is charged with vehicular homicide and felony hit-and-run in the death of Robert “Robb” Mason, 63, who was killed July 15 while he was riding home from his job in West Seattle.
A judge ordered Yusuf to electronic home monitoring during Yusuf’s arraignment hearing Monday.
The day of the crash, Mason was riding an electric bicycle and wearing a yellow safety vest as he traveled eastbound on South Spokane Street. Yusuf hit Mason as he was making a left turn at South Spokane Street and 11th Avenue SW, according to charging documents.
Prosecutors said Yusuf was driving over 50 miles per hour in an area where the speed limit is 25 mph.
Mason was killed instantly. After initially braking, Yusuf allegedly left the scene. Surveillance video from a King County Metro bus helped police identify the make and model of the suspect's vehicle, which eventually was matched to a 2017-18 Hyundai Elantra that was registered to Yusuf.
After seizing his vehicle, police got search warrants for Yusuf's phone and Snapchat account. Police found messages in which Yusuf stated he did a hit-and-run and searches in which Yusuf sought out news articles and blog postings about the incident.
Mason’s widow, Claudia Mason, spoke at the arraignment hearing about the impact of losing her husband.
“We were just getting ready to start our retirements. Now all that's gone,” Mason said.