SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Port Orchard hit-and-run driver took ‘an amazing man’ from this world
Jul 16, 2018, 6:04 PM | Updated: Jul 17, 2018, 6:36 am
Ali Rochelle Giannini, 29, has been arrested for the hit-and-run that took the life of Michael Keaton, 61, on Saturday morning near Port Orchard. (Kitsap County Sheriff's Office Twitter)
(Kitsap County Sheriff's Office Twitter)
Michael Keaton, 61, loved taking his grandchildren to McDonald’s for ice cream and going to pick out as much fruit as they wanted at the local farmers market.
A fitness enthusiast, he and daughter Tawnie Ploe competed with each other to see who could get more steps in per day using step-tracking apps on their phones. Keaton made it a priority to get in shape by going for walks every day near his Port Orchard home so that he could live a long, full life with his six grandchildren.
“He wanted to be here for all of us for as long as possible,” Ploe told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.
RELATED: Man charged in fatal hit-and-run of Port Orchard woman
Tragically, it was during on one of his much-loved morning walks when Michael Keaton’s life was cut short. Keaton was struck and killed by a white Chevrolet Cruze on Sidney Road outside Port Orchard on Saturday morning.
The driver did not stop and immediately fled the scene. Ali Rochelle Giannini, 29, was later arrested for the crime after turning herself in to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
“She took an amazing man from his family and his community … and I do not want her to have another second of freedom,” Ploe said.
A warrant was previously out for Giannini’s arrest for possession of meth and oxycontin, along with several misdemeanor warrants. Giannini is currently a transient.
Ploe said that according to police, there were no signs of Giannini having hit the brakes when she allegedly hit Keaton.
“She went into the shoulder and she hit him. And she didn’t even stop,” Ploe said. “There was no hesitation, no, ‘Oh my God, what did I just do?’ She just kept going like he was an animal. And my dad did not deserve that.”
Ploe suspects that Giannini was under the influence at the time of the crime, because, as she noted, her dad should have been plainly visible. According to Ploe, Keaton took every precaution to make sure that he was clear to drivers, such as wearing reflective clothing, walking as far from the road as possible, and taking a flashlight if needed. There was still daylight when he was hit.
The loss was all the more heartbreaking to Ploe because she, her husband, and their three children — 11, 7, and 6 — had all recently moved back to the area to be close to their family members.
“My dad was looking forward to having all six of his grandkids within 10 minutes of them, being able to do the things that we were only able to do on short visits home,” Ploe said.
