Man charged with vehicular homicide after Lynnwood crash

Published 1:30 am Thursday, January 31, 2019

LYNNWOOD — After a deadly crash outside a QFC, a Kenmore man is being prosecuted for vehicular homicide and hit-and-run fatality.

Joshua Krueger, 29, was charged Tuesday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

He apparently was using stimulants and painkillers before the Jan. 13 crash.

An Edmonds police officer reportedly saw Krueger, driving a Jaguar SE, go 50 mph through a stop sign at the intersection of 72nd Avenue and 210th Street SW. The officer followed. Krueger went through another stop sign without stopping, then a red light, according to the charges.

Then he allegedly sped off, down 76th Avenue, going up to 100 mph in a 30 mph zone. The officer called off the pursuit, turned off the emergency lights and slowed down.

Moments later, the officer saw a plume of smoke rise over the hill.

The Jaguar had crashed into a Chevrolet Aveo pulling out of the QFC parking lot in Lynnwood, court papers say. The Jaguar spun counter-clockwise, went airborne and landed on top of an unoccupied Jeep Patriot.

The impact caved in the driver’s side of the Aveo. Inside was 66-year-old Khan Tran, of Seattle. He died on the way to the hospital.

Krueger ran into the store, records say. He popped out the other side, where officers cut him off. He allegedly ignored commands to surrender and went back inside.

He went out another exit. A bystander pointed: “That’s him!”

Krueger reportedly ran through the parking lot. An officer gave chase. Eventually, the suspect slowed down, then got on the ground. He was arrested and taken to the hospital.

Krueger fidgeted on the way there, court papers say. Police reportedly found a hollow pen in his pocket that apparently had been used to smoke heroin. A judge gave permission to obtain a blood sample.

Later, at the Lynnwood Police Department, the defendant told officers he may have been driving at 100 mph. According to prosecutors, he said he tried to escape the police because his driver’s license was suspended. He was panicking, he said.

Over the past six years, Krueger has been convicted twice of driving with a suspended license in Kenmore, driving under the influence in Bothell and operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock device in Shoreline.

A vehicular homicide charge is most often filed in connection with fatal collisions involving impaired driving. The state law also can apply if a driver was reckless or disregarded others’ safety.

Krueger remained in jail Wednesday, with bail set at $200,000.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.