On October 9th, 2025, Andy Burt, a pedestrian walking across a crosswalk with his flashing neon vest on was struck by a driver in a silver sedan, resulting in Andy getting a broken foot, and the results of his dog which he adopted from The Tacoma Humane Society shortly died after a passerby found him down the road which he took off to after his owner, Andy fell down from being hit.
The passerby took the dog to a veterinary hospital where he later died. The driver that struck Andy allegedly stopped for a moment then quickly fled the scene after hitting Andy and his dog.
Annie Burt, Andy’s wife said her husband has a nightly walk routine for their dog in a very well-lit area and wearing a bright neon vest to make sure drivers see him.
After the hit a GoFundMe account was set up to pay Andy’s medical bills and as well to pay for his dog’s cremation costs. The dog’s name was later identified from the GoFundMe account as, “Kevin McNugget Brownie Burt. Andy and his wife wrote that Kevin became a “much loved family member”.
According to the Thurston County Sheriffs office the silver sudan who hit Andy and his dog Kevin was found unoccupied a few days later and now placed it as evidence. “Court documents say the suspect was stopped in his vehicle and later released because there was no probable cause for his arrest” (The Olympian). The suspect then admitted to the hit-and-run of Andy Burt and his dog.
The suspect was later identified to live in Olympia not even one mile away from where he murdered a dog and injured a civilian.
The 32 year-old suspect called Thurston 911 on February 18th and said he was to be taken into custody at the Thurston County Superior Courthouse. He was booked into jail on February 18th on vehicular assault, second-degree animal curelty, and hit-and-run accident/injury.
Since the suspect was only booked into jail he has not been sentenced for his actions but he could be facing more then 15 years in prison.
Work Cited
Vinson, Ty, and Martín Bilbao. “Driver accused of killing dog in Thurston County hit-and-run has been arrested.” The Olympian, 23 February 2026, https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article314807652.html. Accessed 5 March 2026.
