15-year-old driver kills jogger, injures Seattle child in Lopez Island accident

A 15-year-old boy was driving a souped-up car too fast on a Lopez Island road Sunday afternoon when he plowed into a group of bicyclists and a jogger, killing the runner and seriously hurting a Seattle girl on a bike, San Juan County sheriff's officials said.

The 7-year-old girl was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with "very severe injuries" to her hands, said San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cumming.

The incident occurred about 2:40 p.m. on Lopez Sound Road, a popular biking and running route on the east side of the island.

The girl was biking with her mom and dad and a sibling, while nearby Paul John Jaholkowsky, 26, of Abbotsford, B.C., was jogging and walking up the two-lane rural road.

The 15-year-old Lopez Island boy and his 17-year-old friend had been tinkering with an extra-powerful engine in a 1974 Chevy Nova. They decided to take the car out for a test spin even though the 15-year-old only has a learner's permit, Cumming said.

The teen was going too fast and couldn't control the powerful car, the sheriff said. He veered across the road and struck the girl, then continued a short distance and hit Jaholkowsky. The car then careened up an embankment, rolled back onto the road and spun around violently.

Jaholkowsky was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neither teen was wearing a seat belt, and the 17-year-old slammed into the windshield and was ejected out the side of the car, the sheriff said. He suffered injuries and also was flown to Harborview.

The 15-year-old driver was flown to another mainland hospital and later released to his parents, Cumming said.

No charges have been filed.

Cumming said the family of the 15-year-old is cooperating with investigators.

The Sheriff's Office didn't release the names of the injured girl or the teens.

Ian Ith: 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com