Tacoma teen dies when car strikes tree

Published 9:00 pm Monday, March 1, 2004

ARLINGTON – A Tacoma boy was killed Friday night when the car he was riding in struck a tree, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday.

Randall Allyn Frank, 17, died of injuries to his head and body, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The driver of the car survived.

The wreck happened in the 10400 block of 99th Avenue NE northeast of Marysville, sheriff’s Chief Kevin Prentiss said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Everett

Toddler’s autopsy complete: The death of a toddler remains under investigation, Skagit County Coroner Bruce Bacon said Monday.

Bacon’s office completed the autopsy Monday on Lujan Venegas but it will be about a month before the coroner will know the cause of the boy’s death, Bacon said.

Lujan died Friday. He had been moved to a foster care home in Anacortes after his father was arrested for first-degree assault of a child.

Prosecutors allege that Bernie Bernabe Venegas, 41, of Everett tried to stop the boy from crying by covering his mouth and nose with his hand. The child suffered severe brain damage from lack of oxygen. Doctors also found broken ribs and leg and wrist fractures.

Venegas could now face murder charges. He has spent most of his incarceration at Western State Hospital in Steilacoom near Tacoma, a mental facility.

Fire damages house: A kitchen fire damaged a house near Martha Lake on Monday.

The homeowner reported the fire just before 11 a.m. in the 100 block of 151st Place SE. She and a dog were able to escape uninjured, said Leslie Hynes, spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1.

Smoke was coming from the back of the split-entry house when firefighters arrived. Firefighters contained the fire to the kitchen. There was heavy smoke damage throughout the house, Hynes said.

The fire likely started when combustibles were left on the stovetop. The homeowner told firefighters she was awaiting the delivery of a new refrigerator and moved some items from the top of the old refrigerator to the stovetop, which apparently was on, Hynes said.

The fire left the house uninhabitable. The family of three has insurance and has found a place to stay.

Monroe

Injured firefighter released: A volunteer firefighter who was struck by a car while responding to another crash was released from the hospital Sunday.

The man, 30, is expected to make a full recovery.

The firefighter was responding to an accident about 12:30 a.m. Saturday in the 10400 block of Trombley Road. He was setting out flares when a car hit him.

He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was treated for a “full body bruise,” Battalion Chief Leroy Schwartz said.

The driver who hit the firefighter continued off the road and struck a tree. He was not injured. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on suspicion of vehicular assault.

From Herald staff reports