Whatcom man suspected of vehicular homicide in Tuesday’s fatal crash on Guide Meridian
A Maple Falls man is suspected of vehicular homicide and drugs or alcohol are believed to have been involved in a two-car fatal crash that resulted in the death of a Lynden man Tuesday along Guide Meridian in Whatcom County.
Leslie Gillmere, 59 of Lynden, died after he was struck by his own car in a towing incident at approximately 12:39 p.m. Jan. 4 on the Guide near Beard Road, according to the Washington State Patrol report on the fatal crash.
The State Patrol booked Norman John Shiflet, 56 of Maple Falls, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of vehicular assault (under the influence), according to the jail booking log.
Shiflet was driving southbound on the Guide in a 2002 Ford F150 that was towing Gillmere’s red 2001 Chrysler Town and Country minivan with a tow strap, according to the report.
Just south of East Pole Road, the tow strap disconnected from Gillmere’s Town and Country, according to the report, and both cars stopped.
Gillmere exited the car to replace the tow strap, the report states, but Shiflet continued southbound and the unoccupied Town and Country struck Gillmere and stopped in the right lane.
“They (Shiflet) thought Gillmere was clear from the vehicle after fixing the tow strap,” Trooper Jacob Kennett told The Bellingham Herald Wednesday, Jan. 5. “Unfortunately he was not, and the car got pulled over the top of him.”
North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Chief Jason Van der Veen told The Bellingham Herald that life-saving efforts for Gillmere were stopped at the scene and he died.
“It was an unfortunate circumstance,” Van der Veen said.
The State Patrol report said that drugs or alcohol are believed to have been involved in the fatal incident.
The fatal crash is the first of the year on Whatcom County roadways, though a second occurred later Tuesday when a pedestrian was reportedly struck and killed by a snowplow on Highway 9 south of Deming. There were 14 fatal crashes resulting in 17 deaths in 2021, according to the WSDOT Crash Data Portal.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 7:55 AM.
