By Shawn Skager-The Courier-Herald
After four days on the run, Puyallup resident Blair Robert Jensen, 23, turned himself in Friday to Pierce County Sheriff’s Department at the County City Building in Tacoma.
Jensen was wanted for the Sept. 8 hit and run death of Sumner resident John “Chip” McRae III.
At approximately 8:10 p.m. Sept. 8, McRae was struck and killed while riding his bicycle in the 2300 block of East Main Street in Puyallup. The car that struck McRae was described by witnesses as a silver Cadillac STS. According to eyewitnesses in another car, the driver, Jensen, was driving aggressively and may have been trying to race the other car. Bystanders and Puyallup police officers performed CPR on McRae, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
After striking McRae, Jensen drove off and abandoned the Cadillac, which was found on Sept. 9 in the 1200 block of Ninth Street Southeast in Puyallup with damage consistent with the collision. Puyallup police also said there was blood on the car.
According to Puyallup Police spokesperson Lt. Dave McDonald, Jensen, along with his girlfriend Christina Ripple, 20, went on the run in Ripple’s 2008 Toyota after the accident.
On Sept. 11 Puyallup police and members of McRae’s family conducted a press conference to ask Jensen to turn himself in.
“I would ask the person to please come forward,” McRae’s sister Lisa Steck said. “We lost a wonderful person and he’s not coming back. But it would help.”
McRae, who worked as a computer technician, is the father of three, but his son John McRae IV described him as being a father figure to many.
“He was like a father of 50,” he said. “He loved everyone like a son and daughter.”
According to McDonald, Jensen was released on Friday on $15,000 bond. He was expected to be arraigned and charged with vehicular homicide and felony hit and run on Monday.
Ripple did not turn herself in and is still sought by Puyallup Police for questioning.
“She has not been charged and there is no warrant for her,” McDonald said. “But finding her is a priority.”
Reach Shawn Skager at sskager@courierherald.com or 253-862-7719 ext. 208.
