A man who died in what police say was a road-rage incident Monday, June 2, shouldn’t even have been behind the wheel. A second man injured in the crash shouldn’t have been driving, either.
The licenses of both drivers had been suspended, and they each have a history of bad driving, court records show.
The crash, which happened shortly before 7 p.m. Monday on I-405, was caused by “a classic case of road rage and aggressive driving,” State Patrol trooper Lance Ramsay said June 3.
David A. Burelison, 40, of Mill Creek, died and a 22-year-old Woodinville man suffered minor injuries.
Troopers are investigating the incident as a possible vehicular homicide, Ramsay said. The second driver’s name is not being used because he has not been charged.
The two men apparently never crossed paths before the deadly crash, but court records show both have been convicted of a long list of traffic violations, including reckless driving.
In unrelated cases, police pulled over each man in the same week – stopping Burelison in Mill Creek on May 24 and the other driver in the Kirkland area on May 22. Both were cited for driving with a suspended license.
Burelison had at least 22 traffic-related violations, plus convictions for second-degree burglary, fourth-degree assault and other misdemeanors, court records show.
The driver from Woodinville has been cited for 10 traffic violations. He was ordered to attend traffic safety school after pleading guilty to reckless driving and third-degree driving with a suspended license in November 2001.
The two drivers encountered each other Monday night on a busy stretch of southbound I-405 north of the Highway 527 interchange, Ramsay said.
Witnesses already had called police to report that Burelison was driving erratically, speeding and weaving in and out of traffic, Ramsay said.
When his Blazer got behind the Woodinville man’s Saturn, Ramsay said the Saturn driver reportedly tapped his brakes.
“That’s something you never want to do (if someone is tailgating). What you want to do is move over and let the vehicle go by,” Ramsay said.
The Blazer then pulled up next to the Saturn. The Saturn driver told troopers Burelison made an obscene gesture, then pulled in front of him and hit the brakes.
In an attempt to avoid hitting the Blazer, the Saturn driver yanked the car left into the carpool lane, Ramsay said, but lost control and came back into the Blazer’s lane.
The Saturn struck the Blazer, causing the Blazer to roll over four or five times, Ramsay said. Burelison died at the scene.
The other driver was treated for minor injuries at a Kirkland hospital and released. Neither car was carrying passengers.
Police and prosecutors say there’s little they can do to keep bad drivers from getting behind the wheel, even when they have suspended licenses.
“You can take their license. You can take their car. You can put them in jail for short periods of time, medium periods of time, long periods of time. When they get out, the likelihood is they’re going to get behind the wheel of the car and do the same things again,” said Mark Roe, Snohomish County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor.
Katherine Schiffner is a reporter with The Herald in Everett.
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