ISSAQUAH, Wash. – A 22-year-old Costco employee is accused of deliberately ramming his coworker’s motorcycle with a car in a fit of jealous rage after seeing the young man hug a female colleague he was obsessed with, prosecutors say, in a deadly incident captured on surveillance video.
Tyler Martin Sorensen of Renton is charged with second-degree murder and related felonies in the July 31 death of 20-year-old Jonathon Langdon near Costco headquarters in North Issaquah. Court documents and video obtained by outlets including the California Post show Sorensen striking the rear of Langdon’s motorcycle with a gray sedan, sending the rider flying into a metal street sign.
“Langdon’s body is seen violently impacting the metal signpost, causing his body to wrap around the post and recoil backwards, landing face down,” according to charging documents. The motorcycle continued forward without its rider. First responders found Langdon face down still wearing his helmet; the impact left a matching mark on his back and separated the visor.
The alleged motive traces to a hug in the Costco parking lot involving Langdon and coworker Samantha Peterson. Sorensen, who worked with both and reportedly viewed Peterson as his “ex-girlfriend” despite her insistence they were only friends, became enraged. He texted friends a photo of the embrace with the message: “Always told me he was just a friend. My blood is boiling.”
Prosecutors say Sorensen nearly struck the pair with his vehicle in the lot, then waited about 10 minutes for Langdon to leave on his motorcycle before following at high speed and intentionally swerving into him. After the crash, Sorensen did not stop to render aid or call 911. He later allegedly told investigators, “It was stupid but I… meant to do it,” and described feeling “panicked, riled up, just adrenaline.”
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elaine S. Lee argued that Sorensen “refused to accept the boundaries set by Samantha Peterson, who wanted nothing more than friendship with the defendant… he believed if he could not have Ms. Peterson, no one could.” Peterson told investigators she had repeatedly told Sorensen he was crossing lines and needed space.
The surveillance footage, timestamped around the time of the incident, shows the sedan approaching from behind on a road adjacent to a parking area and grassy median, colliding with the motorcycle, and producing a cloud of dust and debris as the victim is thrown. An inset image in circulating versions of the video identifies Sorensen in a graduation photo.
Sorensen pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. A judge set bail at $2 million and ordered him held in custody. He is due back in court August 27 for a pretrial conference. He faces second-degree murder, second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, and an additional count related to the intentional acts leading to the fatal crash.
Authorities said Sorensen’s father later learned of the crash and brought him back to the scene to surrender. The case highlights a workplace tragedy driven by unchecked obsession, with prosecutors emphasizing the deliberate nature of the alleged attack captured clearly on camera.
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