Kristie Figueroa had a knot in her stomach as she drove up to a fiery wreck on I-5 in December 2002.
"I knew before I drove up close it was his car," she said in court Friday at the sentencing of the man who admitted he was responsible for the crash and death of her fiance.
Figueroa found Jeffrey O. Bundy, 21 of Marysville unresponsive and tried to pull him out of the car.
"All I could do is cry and talk to him," she told sentencing Judge Charles French in Snohomish County Superior Court. At the time of the crash, she told Bundy, "If he loved her he would wake up."
Emotion flowed freely on both sides of the courtroom when Douglas Brian Fink was sentenced to about 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of vehicular homicide.
Bundy had been following Figueroa on I-5 while driving a car he had recently purchased. It stalled, and the vehicle came to a stop partly in the outside travel lane of I-5 near the Snohomish River bridge in Everett.
According to court documents, Figueroa saw him pull over and continued on to an exit where she could turn around and head back to help Bundy. When she rounded a bend, she saw the smashed vehicles and fire.
Fink, 38, of Snohomish had been drinking before he hit Bundy’s disabled car.
Deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro originally charged Fink under the theory that he was intoxicated, a charge that could have earned him a prison term of up to 3 1/2years. She had evidence that his blood contained twice the legal limit for alcohol.
Defense attorney David Allen of Seattle argued that Bundy’s car stalled farther into the travel lane than the state said, and the sides reached a compromise.
The deputy prosecutor told the judge she amended the charge to accuse Fink of driving recklessly, a crime with a 20-month term at the top end of the sentencing range.
Allen said Fink wanted to take responsibility from the outset. He’s a very caring person, he said.
"Until this accident, he was considered a responsible and productive member of the community," Allen told the judge. It’s no excuse, but Fink’s drinking was done to counter a panic disorder, he said.
Fink stood before French, shaking most of the way through the hearing. He turned to members of the Bundy family and apologized.
"I am truly, truly sorry," he said. "I had no right to do what I did, and I will take full responsibility for it. I will pay."
French said lingering bitterness and anger won’t bring Bundy back, and the two families supporting Fink and the victim are somewhat similar. Both Fink and the victim had a lot of good qualities, French said.
French ordered Fink to report to the Snohomish County Jail on Friday. He will have to undergo an evaluation for drug or alcohol treatment when he gets out and be subject to community supervision for up to three years.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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