PORT ANGELES — A Sequim man was sentenced Thursday to one year in the Clallam County Jail and one year of community custody after he pleaded guilty to vehicular assault and hit-and-run.
Cole William Douglas, 23, was convicted of both crimes, a felony and a gross misdemeanor, in the hit-and-run collision on March 31, 2025, that left Sequim middle-schooler Colton Dufour seriously injured.
During a 34-minute sentencing hearing before Clallam County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Stanley, prosecuting attorney Steven Johnson said Dufour is “back in school,” but “this was really close to being a vehicular or a hit-and-run death case.”
Dufour was 13 and in seventh grade at Sequim Middle School at the time he was struck and thrown into the air by Douglas’ 1996 Lexus sedan at about 9 p.m. on the Monday of spring break while he was skateboarding with friends on West Spruce Street. He suffered a severe head injury that required emergency neurosurgery, and he also sustained a broken pelvis and other injuries. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Douglas was arrested on May 21 in Oklahoma and flown back to Clallam County, where he was booked into jail on May 23. On June 6, he pleaded not guilty to felony charges of hit-and-run with injury and vehicular assault. He faced the possibility of five- and 10-year prison sentences and fines of up to $10,000 and $20,000 for the separate charges.
At that time, after Judge Brent Basden was told that Douglas had no criminal history and after being assured by defense attorney William Payne that Douglas would “appear (in court) as ordered,” Basden set bail at $20,000 rather than the $250,000 requested by the prosecuting attorney’s office. Douglas posted bail on May 29.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Dufour was in the courtroom as was his mother, Cherie Tachell. Neither addressed the court, but victim witness coordinator Molly Ramsey, who works in the prosecuting attorney’s office, read aloud a victim’s impact statement on behalf of Tachell.
The statement detailed Tachell’s fear that her son had died or might die while she and other family members were driving to Seattle that night, Dufour’s suffering while in ICU, and how life has changed for him and their family. Dufour will not be able to fulfill his lifelong dream to become a U.S. Marine, she stated.
“It shook the whole community,” Tachell wrote of the incident that caused many in Sequim to rally around the family, raising money to defray medical and other expenses.
Tachell appeared to wipe away tears several times during the proceedings, including when Ramsey read her victim’s impact statement. Dufour mostly kept his head bowed.
Douglas, who was 22 at the time of the incident, sat at the defendant’s table with Payne, his shoulders slumped and his eyes downcast for most of the hearing.
Douglas apologized for his actions, directing his remarks to the judge after she asked if there was anything he wished to say before she sentenced him.
“This is directed towards Colton and his family,” Douglas responded. “I just can’t even begin to explain to you how much this has destroyed me as a person. The complete shock of what had transpired just destroyed me.”
Douglas stated he was “completely ashamed” of himself.
“It’s inexcusable, and I’m going to carry this with me for the rest of my life,” he said.
Stanley imposed the sentence that had been agreed upon by all parties.
As part of the plea deal, Douglas will be monitored by the state Department of Corrections as part of his community custody and will be required to give a DNA sample if he has not already provided one. His driver’s license will be revoked by the Department of Licensing, and he will not be allowed to drive while in community custody.
Douglas was deemed indigent by the court and a final restitution amount has not yet been determined, Johnson said after the hearing.
As the proceedings concluded, Tachell began to smile and no longer wiped her eyes.
Stanley remarked that “the statements made to the court today were quite impactful from both sides” and noted that she felt Douglas’ remorse was sincere.
“In light of everything I’ve heard today, I do believe the agreed-upon recommendation is appropriate in this matter,” she said.
Douglas was then taken into custody.
“Mr. Douglas nearly killed a teenage boy and then fled halfway across the country in an attempt to evade accountability,” Johnson stated in a news release.
It noted that “the resolution involved Douglas pleading to a strike offense and receiving community custody and substance use treatment, which would not have occurred under the original charge.”
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Kathy Cruz is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which also is composed of other Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News and Forks Forum. She can be reached by email at kathy.cruz@sequimgazette.com.
Cherie Tachell and her son, Colton Dufour. The middle-schooler, then 13, was seriously injured in a hit-and-run collision while skateboarding with friends during spring break last March. (Cherie Tachell)
