Flowers for slain trooper Chris Gadd begin to collect outside Washington State Patrol District 7 Headquarters on Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
A ceremonial procession for slain trooper Chris Gadd will leave the Tulalip Resort Casino at 11 a.m. Tuesday. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Flowers for slain trooper Chris Gadd begin to collect outside Washington State Patrol District 7 Headquarters on Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald) A ceremonial procession for slain trooper Chris Gadd will leave the Tulalip Resort Casino at 11 a.m. Tuesday. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)

Motorcade route to trooper’s public memorial set for Tuesday in Everett

Doors open at noon at Angel of the Winds Arena for a memorial for state trooper Chris Gadd, who was a “loving husband, devoted father, caring brother.”

EVERETT — A ceremonial procession for fallen Washington State Patrol trooper Chris Gadd will leave the Tulalip Resort Casino at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

It will finish at Angel of the Winds Arena in downtown Everett, where doors open to the public at noon and a memorial service will begin at 1 p.m., according to the state patrol.

The state patrol announced Monday afternoon the motorcade route will be as follows:

• Start at the Tulalip Resort Casino gravel parking lot at 27th Avenue NE;

• Merge onto southbound I-5 from 88th Street NE;

• Leave I-5 at exit 194 onto Everett Avenue;

• Turn right on Broadway;

• Turn left on East Marine View Drive;

• Turn left on Hewitt Avenue;

• Arrive at Angel of the Winds Arena.

The memorial will also be streamed live on the Washington State Patrol’s YouTube channel and local Seattle news outlets.

Gadd, 27, had been a state trooper since September 2021, when he started as a cadet assigned to Grandview, Yakima County. He was later sent to Marysville. His father is a state trooper in King County. His sister is a state trooper in Texas.

In a statement, Gadd’s family wrote: “We are working through what is undoubtedly the most difficult of times for our family as we mourn the loss of a loving husband, devoted father, caring brother, beloved son, and committed friend.”

“We appreciate the outpouring of support we have seen from the community that Chris loved and served. We ask the media to respect our family’s privacy during this painful time,” the statement continues.

Motorcade route:

On March 2, an SUV crossed into the right shoulder of southbound I-5 near 136th Street NE, crashing into Gadd’s vehicle at high speed. Gadd had stopped there just before 3 a.m. while on routine patrol for intoxicated drivers.

The SUV’s alleged driver, Raul Benitez Santana, reportedly told detectives he had been visiting a friend in Mount Vernon and drank two Coors Lights and smoked a joint around 9 p.m. A breath test, given about 3½ hours after the crash, reportedly had a reading of 0.047 blood-alcohol content. A judge approved a warrant to draw his blood for testing.

If the initial estimate proves to be accurate, Benitez Santana’s alleged blood alcohol-content would have been above the legal limit at the time of the crash, roughly 0.10, given the generally accepted average alcohol “burn-off” rate of 0.015 grams per 100 milliliters of blood per hour.

The tachometer of Benitez Santana’s GMC Yukon XL was stuck above 3,500 rpm, and the speedometer was stuck over the 100 mph mark, Snohomish County sheriff’s detective Marc Monson wrote in a supplemental police report. Monson was unsure if the needles displayed an accurate reading of how fast Benitez Santana was going before the crash.

Benitez Santana recalled going about 80 mph, about 10 mph above the speed limit, when he hit the car, according to the police report. He reportedly remembered seeing the trooper’s vehicle at the last moment.

Police arrested Benitez Santana, 32, for investigation of vehicular homicide. On March 4, an immigration detainer was placed on Benitez Santana. Detainers are used on noncitizens who have been arrested.

Benitez Santana remained behind bars as of this week, with bail set at $1 million.

Gadd was married with a 2-year-old daughter.

Sophia Gates: 425-339-3035; sophia.gates@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @SophiaSGates.

Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.

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