Maple Valley man arrested in hit-and-run death of toddler

A 37-year-old Maple Valley man was arrested this morning in connection with the hit-and-run accident Wednesday night that killed a toddler.

The man was turned in by his boss and was arrested at his house without incident, said King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.

The man's employer also led detectives to the suspect's vehicle, a 2002 Acura that was found in a Safeway grocery store parking lot at Southeast 272nd Street and 170th Avenue Southeast, he said.

At about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, a 3 1/2-year-old boy apparently wandered away from his house and was standing in the middle of Southeast 240th Street near 202nd Avenue Southeast when he was hit, Urquhart said.

Moments earlier, another driver saw the boy in the road and stopped his car to help the child, he said. The witness tried to wave down a westbound car but that vehicle struck the boy without slowing and took off, Urquhart said. The boy died at the scene.

The suspect is to be booked into the Regional Justice Center in Kent on suspicion of vehicular homicide and felony hit-and-run, Urquhart said.