GOLD BAR — Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies acted lawfully when they pursued a drunken driver who ultimately died in a crash on eastbound U.S. 2 in 2013, prosecutors say.
Eric John Breum, 55, of Skykomish, crashed his truck and died while fleeing from a traffic stop.
Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe reviewed the investigation and wrote his findings in a Jan. 9 letter to detectives.
“The only criminal conduct I could identify was that committed by the deceased,” Roe wrote. “He is another victim of drunken driving, and it is fortunate more people were not killed.”
After receiving Roe’s letter, the sheriff’s office plans an internal review to determine if department policies were followed, agency spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.
An internal review is standard procedure at police departments after a case is investigated by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team. Also known as SMART, the team is made up of homicide detectives from throughout the county. It most often is tasked with investigating officer-involved shootings and other potentially fatal uses of force. After SMART cases are complete, Roe determines if actions taken by police were legally justified.
SMART was asked to investigate the Oct. 21, 2013, fatal pursuit to avoid the sheriff’s office having a conflict of interest, Ireton said. The finished case file came across Roe’s desk nearly a year later.
The sheriff’s deputy and the sergeant involved in the pursuit were put on leave for more than a week afterward, also standard practice after a major incident. Investigators don’t believe they rammed Breum’s pickup before he lost control east of Gold Bar and smashed into another vehicle. That caused a pileup that also entangled the police cars and injured an 86-year-old Edmonds man.
Both deputies reported they had slowed down and ceased actively pursuing Breum moments before the crash, public records show. Breum had seven prior DUI convictions and spent time in prison as a repeat DUI offender. After his death, his blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.27, more than three times the legal limit.
At least four high-speed police chases in Snohomish County ended in a death in 2013, one of which involves a still-pending legal claim against the city of Lynnwood. In two of those cases, the fleeing drivers were sent to prison for second-degree murder after they crashed into strangers who didn’t survive their injuries.
Last year, at least two fleeing drivers crashed and died moments after local police called off their pursuits.
Roe’s letter in the Breum file was made available under state public records laws.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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