Kennewick driver arrested in motorcycle crash that left a woman in critical condition for days

A Kennewick motorcyclist is now in jail for a crash last week that left his female passenger seriously injured.

Alexander A. Maciel, 39, is being held on suspicion of vehicular assault, hit-and-run with an injury and attempting to elude police, all felonies.

He was arrested late Saturday after Kennewick police got a tip about 7:15 p.m. that Maciel was in the 3100 block of West Hood Avenue.

“This arrest is a testament to the teamwork and dedication demonstrated by several different divisions of our agency to include patrol, detectives, and the traffic unit who all worked together to come to this conclusion,” Officer Sebastian Castilleja said in a news release.

Police say Maciel was the driver of a motorcycle was was spotted speeding on Canal Drive, near North Fisher Street, just after 8 p.m. Sept. 22.

An officer who was traveling in the opposite direction turned around to pull him over, but the motorcycle sped away, police said at the time on a Facebook post.

The officer did not chase the motorcycle because of the potential danger of a crash, but reportedly saw the driver lose control on a curve near Carmichael Street.

That is when a woman riding on the back of the bike was thrown off.

Olivia Rivera was rushed to Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick, then flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle because of the seriousness of her injuries.

Police searched the neighborhood using a police dog, but were unable to find the driver that evening. Surrounding streets were shut down for several hours.

Over the next four days, detectives with the department’s Criminal Apprehension Team and traffic officers “spent a significant amount of time investigating this collision and following up on leads” to determine who was driving when the motorcycle crashed, Castilleja said in the news release.

That led to Saturday’s tip and arrest, he said.

Maciel was booked into the Benton County jail just after 2 a.m. Sunday.

Rivera had been in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but was moved out of the intensive care unit Monday, according to a hospital spokeswoman. She now is in satisfactory condition.

This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 10:29 AM.