EVERETT — A man accused of running from the scene of a high-speed crash that killed a woman last month is a convicted felon.
Brandon Ralph Winston Brown, 30, has spent time in prison for robbery and gun crimes. His most recent felony conviction came in 2012 for heroin possession.
Prosecutors on Friday charged Brown with vehicular homicide and hit-and-run fatality accident for the Feb. 24 crash that killed Athena Pishue.
Pishue, 37, was riding in the back seat of a Nissan Altima that Brown was driving, court paper said. Another passenger also was hurt. He told police Brown lost control when he tried to outrun police.
An Everett police sergeant reported that before the crash he spotted the Altima with its headlights off on West Casino Road. He got behind the car, intending to pull it over. He activated his emergency lights, but the Altima sped off, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow wrote.
The sergeant chose not to pursue the car. It headed north on 5th Avenue W.
A witness reported that the Altima passed her on Hardeson Road. It disappeared around a slight curve. When the witness rounded the curve, she saw the Altima spinning out of control. It came to a rest in the center turn lane.
Investigators determined that the car had failed to negotiate the curve, slid broadside over a curb and slammed into a rock wall. The witness saw the driver climb over the front passenger seat and run from the vehicle, Darrow wrote.
When officers arrived there was an injured man in the front passenger seat. Pishue was unconscious in the back.
Officers used a police dog in an attempt to find the driver. A nearby homeowner found Brown hiding in his garage, Darrow wrote. The defendant allegedly ran from the garage. A police dog tracked Brown to the bed of a pickup truck two houses away.
Brown allegedly admitted he’d been hurt in a crash. A Nissan key fob was found in his right front jacket pocket, according to court papers.
Officers interviewed the front seat passenger at the hospital. He said Brown was trying to avoid the traffic stop and was driving up to 80 mph before the crash.
Pishue underwent surgery but did not survive.
Brown was being held on $250,000 bail. He is expected to answer to the charges this week.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
