Man jailed in fatal I-5 crash; drunken driving suspected

Published 10:51 pm Monday, March 22, 2010

EVERETT — An Everett man was jailed Monday for investigation of vehicular homicide after he slammed a pickup truck into an abandoned truck along I-5, killing his passenger, police say.

Detectives believe the driver, 21, was driving drunk at the time of the crash early Monday, Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said.

The man who died, described as in his 20s, has not been identified.

Police plan to rely on toxicology results to determine the driver’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash.

A State Patrol sergeant at the scene made the decision to immediately place the man behind bars. That was based in part on the serious nature of the offense, Leary said.

“We have a possibly impaired driver that went off the shoulder of the roadway and killed his passenger,” Leary said.

Vehicular homicide suspects aren’t always immediately jailed.

Once a suspect is placed behind bars, a clock starts ticking toward trial. Criminal suspects have a constitutional right to a speedy trial, and forensic evidence can’t always be processed quickly.

That’s why Everett police officials said they haven’t jailed a Mill Creek woman who is suspected of killing two people in a suspected drunken crash on Feb. 26.

Police believe the woman went the wrong way on Broadway and crashed head-on with a car, killing two Tacoma residents.

Justice is best served by conducting a thorough investigation and each case is different, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

The crash early Monday occurred around 2:20 a.m. just north of Highway 526 on the shoulder of I-5, Leary said.

A 1989 Mazda pickup truck was headed southbound around 60 mph when it smashed into an unoccupied flatbed pickup.

The passenger died at the scene. Firefighters had to cut the pickup’s roof free to rescue the driver.

He was taken to an Everett hospital where he was treated and released before being booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of vehicular homicide.

The Herald generally doesn’t name suspects until they’ve made an initial court appearance. The man is scheduled for a bail hearing today in Everett District Court.

Police said they found a case of Modelo beer, and many open bottles, in the man’s pickup.

Troopers wouldn’t disclose Monday what other evidence they had that led them to believe the driver was drunk.

Traffic on I-5 was slowed while investigators collected evidence. Traffic eased around 6 a.m. in time for the morning commute.

State Patrol troopers made around 60 drunken driving arrests in Snohomish County over the weekend, Leary said. The goal was to arrest drivers before they caused tragedies.

“These are things we want to prevent,” Leary said.

Typically unoccupied vehicles left on freeways are marked and towed. Troopers were busy with other incidents early Sunday and the flatbed parked on the shoulder hadn’t been investigated.

Detectives now will try to determine who owned the vehicle and why it was left on the side of the road, Leary said.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner was expected to conduct an autopsy on the victim.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.