A Costco employee accused of murdering a coworker on a motorcycle allegedly told police the deadly attack began with a hug.
Tyler Sorensen, 22, is charged with second-degree murder after prosecutors say he followed 20-year-old Jonathan Langdon out of the Costco in Issaquah, Washington, on July 31 and rammed Langdon’s motorcycle with his gray sedan.
The woman at the center of the workplace jealousy was Samantha Peterson, another Costco employee.
Sorensen saw Langdon hug Peterson, and prosecutors say he later admitted his “blood was boiling.”
“It was stupid but I… meant to do it,” Sorensen said, according to prosecutors.
He also told investigators he did not intend to hit Langdon and only wanted to “spook him.”
Court documents obtained by KOMO News describe Sorensen’s gray sedan behind Langdon’s motorcycle after the two men left the superstore. The vehicle accelerated before the deadly impact, prosecutors say.
🎓Support Defending Education’s mission to expose political agendas in America’s classrooms and restore quality education for all! 🎓 Help protect students and strengthen education nationwide ➡️➡️➡️ DONATE TODAY!!! 🇺🇸
Langdon was thrown into a street sign and died almost instantly. His motorcycle continued forward without him.
The New York Post cited court records that described the crash in graphic terms.
“Langdon’s body is seen violently impacting the metal signpost, causing his body to wrap around the post and recoil backwards, landing face down,” the records said.
First responders found Langdon face down in a black helmet, prosecutors said. The crash hit with enough force to separate the visor from the helmet.
Sorensen is accused of driving away from the scene and going home. KOMO News reported that court documents said he stopped once, not to help Langdon, but to see whether his own car was still intact.
A Washington State Patrol trooper later pulled Sorensen over and wrote him a speeding ticket, apparently unaware that a fatal collision had taken place a few miles away.
Prosecutors say Sorensen did not return to the crash site until roughly an hour later, when his father brought him back.
Sorensen claimed Peterson was his ex-girlfriend, but Peterson denied that to police.
She said the two were not romantically involved and that she had repeatedly told Sorensen he was “crossing boundaries” as a friend.
Sorensen pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Thursday. His bail was set at $2 million after the hearing.
He was ordered to remain in King County Jail and is scheduled to return to court Aug. 27 for a routine pre-trial conference.
A separate Florida case tied another romantic dispute to a bloody parking lot fight, this time outside a Publix where police say one man had a machete and the other swung a hatchet.
The Aug. 4 confrontation in Panama City involved 52-year-old Everette Krichbaum and 35-year-old James Gay, who were both taken to the hospital and later charged with aggravated battery.
A police report tied the fight to a love interest, while detectives identified Gay as the “primary aggressor.”
The clash began while Krichbaum was sitting in his car outside the Publix, according to an arrest affidavit. Gay approached him, the two argued, and Gay allegedly went back to his vehicle before returning with a machete still in its sheath.
He then hit Krichbaum in the face with it, the document says.
Gay told police that Krichbaum began swinging a hatchet as the confrontation intensified.
Krichbaum said he pulled the hatchet because he felt threatened.
“A sworn statement from the victim revealed that he felt threatened due to his age and inability to defend himself. The victim stated he initially brandished a hatchet in an attempt to deter the defendant,” the Panama City Police report said.
By the time officers arrived, Gay had a deep pinky wound that exposed bone and a puncture injury in his lower abdomen. Krichbaum had cuts on his hands and face.
Krichbaum told investigators he lost consciousness when Gay hit him in the head with the machete.
Both men were transported by ambulance for treatment.
Gay told police he was “attacked … over his ex-girlfriend,” according to the police report.
His girlfriend, Stephanie Marshall, told the outlet that the feud involved a woman Krichbaum is dating and Gay previously dated.
Gay was arrested the same day and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Police said Gay admitted after a Miranda warning that he had deliberately stopped his vehicle to confront Krichbaum over earlier problems.
“During a recorded, post-Miranda statement, the defendant admitted that he intentionally stopped his vehicle to confront the victim regarding prior issues, stating the victim had been harassing him,” the police report said.
Gay had already served prison time for a violent case near Panama City.
In 2011, he was convicted of aggravated battery in the killing of a 16-year-old boy after using a chain wrapped around his hand to fracture the teen’s skull. Other co-defendants were also charged in the boy’s death.
Gay was sentenced in 2012 to 15 years in prison. He was released early in June 2024, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Krichbaum was arrested Aug. 5 after he left the hospital.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service took him into custody, and he was charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability.
Both Gay and Krichbaum were booked into Bay County Jail on $50,000 bond.
