LYNNWOOD — A Seattle man was charged Thursday with vehicular homicide after he allegedly tried to run away from police and smashed a stolen car into a utility pole.
The crash led to the death of a passenger who had begged the driver to pull over.
Ian Forrest Strawn, 25, also was charged with attempting to elude police, driving a stolen car and possession of methamphetamine.
Atlas Wheless Jr., 38, of Edmonds and a 20-year-old Lynnwood woman had been passengers in the stolen Subaru Outback Strawn allegedly was driving, according to court charging papers.
They both pleaded for Strawn to slow down after a Lynnwood officer began to pursue the stolen car, documents said.
Wheless, who had been sitting in the back seat, died in the crash. The woman was treated for injuries at a hospital. According to documents, Strawn told police he had taken methamphetamine before driving the car, which had been stolen in Redmond.
The chase began Sept. 15 when police responded to a report of a stolen car in the 20800 block of Highway 99.
When the driver saw the patrol cars, the Subaru Outback accelerated. The car sped through stop signs, drove into oncoming traffic and reached speeds of more than 80 mph on city streets, court documents said.
Officers lost sight of the car as it raced through curves on 212th Street SW near Halls Lake. Police then came upon the wreckage.
Investigators believe the car skidded more than 450 feet into the pole, then continued another 215 feet before stopping, documents said.
Strawn was being held on $85,000 bail.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.
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