The King County Prosecutor’s Office has charged Alexander Michael Kindred, a 34-year-old man with Vashon ties but who has no known current address, with one count of felony hit-and-run in connection with the death of islander Philip Cushman.
Kindred was booked into jail on Sept. 13, with prosecutors stipulating that he be held on $100,000 bail, with numerous bail conditions including electronic home detention with the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention as a condition of release. Additional conditions include no driving without a valid license, insurance, and no moving violations.
The bail was posted on Sept. 4, according to Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office.
Cushman, a well-known psychologist, educator and author, was fatally struck by a car while he was walking on Thorsen Road in the early evening of Aug. 22. He was 77.
Charging documents, dated Sept. 12, said that information provided by a Vashon community member who suspected that Kindred might be involved in the accident led to detective work resulting in Kindred being charged with the felony crime.
The charging documents also state that Kindred was first taken into police custody and transferred to a hospital for a mental health evaluation on the morning of Aug. 23, the day after Cushman’s death, after an incident at the north-end Vashon ferry dock.
According to the documents and an email from a King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, this incident occurred when Kindred was in crisis and had threatened another person while waiting in line for the ferry.
At that time, he was transported by Vashon Fire & Rescue to St. Anne’s Hospital, in Burien, and later moved to Navos Mental Health, in West Seattle.
Kindred’s criminal and driving history is listed on the charging documents as having been speeding and driving without a license in 2019, a disorderly conduct charge in 2015, and driving without a license in 2007.
He was assigned a public defender on Wednesday, Sept. 13.
Kindred’s arraignment, where he will enter a plea, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Sept. 26 in room E1201A of the King County Courthouse.
