PORT ORCHARD — A pickup truck driver accused of racing against the occupants of a car that hit a tree near Port Orchard has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide. Two of the young women in the car were killed and the third was injured.
The Kitsap Sun reported that 20-year-old Robert Rundquist was charged Tuesday. His bail was set at $100,000.
The young women who died Monday night were identified as 17-year-old Shanaia Bennett of Gig Harbor and 18-year-old Rebekah Barrett of South Kitsap. The newspaper said a 17-year-old female passenger in the car’s back seat was reported in satisfactory condition at Tacoma General Hospital.
Witnesses told Kitsap County sheriff’s officers that the truck and car were racing and passing each other at high speeds.
The sheriff’s office said the pickup driver stopped after the crash and tried to help.
Rundquist’s court-appointed lawyer, Tina Robinson, says he knew the teens who died. In her words, “It’s very difficult for him.”
Investigators say the crash was caused by speed well in excess of the 35 mph posted limit.
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Information from: Kitsap Sun, http://www.kitsapsun.com/
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