MARYSVILLE — A Marysville man accused of driving under the influence of drugs — causing a crash on I-5 that left a woman with serious injuries — had been arrested one week earlier for investigation of DUI.
The man, 27, posted $10,000 bond last week, within a day of his arrest. Both times he was booked into jail, troopers had caught him driving with a suspended license, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The man was driving a 2018 Kia Forte north on I-5 through Marysville around 2:15 a.m. Sunday. He crashed into a blue GMC Jimmy that had broken down at the exit to Fourth Street.
A Bellevue man, 25, and a Longview woman, 35, had gotten out to push the GMC, when they were hit. Troopers arrived to find the Kia facing the wrong way, with heavy damage to its front end. Its driver was pacing nearby.
An ambulance took the Longview woman to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. She had suffered severe trauma, including broken bones, according to the state patrol. The Bellevue man’s injuries were less serious.
The Marsyville man said he was “taking the exit, and it all happened in a blink of an eye,” according to the trooper’s report. “The defendant stated he did not know what happened but knew he had hit a vehicle.”
A trooper asked him to estimate the passage of 30 seconds. He waited 48 seconds, before making his guess, court papers say.
The trooper wrote the man’s impairment seemed “obvious,” because his eyes were watery, droopy and bloodshot, and his pupils looked constricted. Yet his blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.00.
Another trooper, who is trained to recognize drug impairment, evaluated the man. In the opinion of that trooper, the Marysville man appeared to be under the influence of a stimulant and a painkiller. A warrant to draw his blood was granted by Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui. Lab results are pending.
The arrest report doesn’t note if the Kia was equipped with an ignition interlock device.
The man was booked into jail early Sunday for investigation of vehicular assault and driving with a suspended license. Judge Bui found probable cause to hold him in jail Monday. She set bail at $75,000, the amount sought by prosecutors.
In his arrest days earlier, troopers pulled over the man on northbound I-5, at the exit to 164th Street SW, trooper Heather Axtman said.
It was around 4 a.m. Oct. 6. His vehicle was impounded, and he was booked into jail for investigation of driving under the influence. Other details about that arrest weren’t available this week. He was released from jail the next night. A deputy prosecutor told the judge on Monday that charges should be filed by Tuesday, in the earlier DUI.
Last week the man also paid off a $105 speeding ticket from late September.
Court records show he has other marks on his driving record. He’d been arrested for investigation of DUI in September 2015, but in a plea, the charge was reduced to reckless driving. He complied with court orders in that case, listening to a panel of people who were hurt by impaired driving, and paying off $960 in fines.
Two months after he was relieved of probation, he was caught speeding 22 mph over the limit. He paid the $218 ticket in full.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
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