Sequim Police Department reported on Friday, April 11 that they have potentially identified a suspect responsible for a hit-and-run severely injuring a 13-year-old boy on March 31 on the 600 block of West Spruce Street.

Officers said in a press release that through an “intensive investigation involving thorough interviews and the review of numerous hours of security footage” they’ve identified the suspect.

However, they said “despite significant efforts to locate and communicate with this individual, they have yet to be found, and an arrest warrant has been issued.”

The police are not releasing the person’s name during the investigation, they said.

They encourage anyone with further information on the hit-and-run to contact them at (360) 683-7227 or via email at ContactSPD@sequimwa.gov.

Colton Dufour, the 13-year-old Sequim Middle School student who was seriously injured in the hit-and-run while skateboarding on the night of March 31, is improving, according to his mother, Cherie Tachell in an April 10 email to the Sequim Gazette.

“Colton is able to stand up now and has (his) feeding tube out,” the email stated. “He can talk now but will still need therapy to learn how to walk again and speech and cognitive therapy at Seattle Children’s.”

She added that the seventh grader was set to be taken off sedation by the weekend.

Officers said they’ve been in regular contact with Colton’s family with progress on their investigation and they’re “pleased to hear positive reports” on his recovery.

Colton is a seventh grader at Sequim Middle School, loves skateboarding, football and rap music, according to his mom, and he’s artistic, “a jokester,” and a member of Civil Air Patrol.

An unknown car struck him while he and three friends were skateboarding behind Safeway on March 31 during a sleepover on spring break. He was flown from the helipad at Jamestown Family Health Clinic to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Colton has a fractured pelvis, road rash, bruises and other injuries. Doctors told Tachell that her son will likely spend several months at Seattle Children’s Rehabilitation, a Level 1 pediatric trauma rehabilitation center.

It was dark when the crime occurred at around 9 p.m., Tachell said, and her son was struck from behind and thrown onto a hill.

One of Colton’s friends threw his bicycle at the fleeing car, she said, and the driver dragged it “down the block.” Another friend wrapped a shirt around Colton’s head while the other two ran to get help.

A family friend in Sequim set up a GoFundMe page to raise donations to defray Colton’s medical expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-colton-dufour-recover-from-hitandrun-attack.

By April 11, the amount raised was more than $24,000.

Photo courtesy of Cherie Tachell| Colton Dufour, shown here with his mom, Cherie Tachell, faces a tough road to recovery following a hit-and-run on the evening of March 31 that left him with serious injuries.