TUMWATER, Wash. — A suspect was arrested Friday morning after allegedly causing a fatal crash that left an innocent 33-year-old man dead in Thurston County.
A Thurston County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) deputy attempted a traffic stop of a vehicle traveling approximately 62 mph in a 35 mph zone just after 10 p.m. Thursday night, according to a release.
As the deputy attempted to pull the vehicle over, it sped away and headed west on Yelm Highway Southeast. The deputy pursued the vehicle but eventually lost sight of it after it turned west on Tumwater Boulevard Southeast. The suspect was traveling at speeds that "easily exceeded" 100 mph in order to elude deputies, according to probable cause documents.
When the deputy approached Capitol Boulevard, he found a crash scene involving the fleeing driver and an uninvolved motorist. The uninvolved motorist did not survive, and the suspect was immediately taken into custody. Deputies say the suspect ran through a red light and smashed into the uninvolved vehicle.
The suspect's vehicle flipped and slid into a tree before coming to a stop, probable cause documents say. When taken into custody, the suspect "kept stating numerous times that he was sorry, and that he only fled because he did not want a speeding ticket."
The suspect said he had received quite a few speeding tickets and said the Department of Licensing told him his license would be suspended if he got another one, probable cause documents say. A Washington State Patrol (WSP) trooper evaluated the suspect at the hospital and did not find any signs of impairment.
After being treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital, the causing driver was booked into the Thurston County Jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide and eluding police.
Bail for the suspect was set at $1 million.
The roadway was blocked for nearly 6.5 hours as police cleared the scene, according to a WSP memo.