(WSB photo from Saturday night; pickup is behind tape in upper left, CR-V in foreground)
3:50 PM: Bail is set at $1 million for the Highland Park man jailed in connection with the deadly Saturday night crash at Delridge and Kenyon. That’s according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which says the 43-year-old man admitted to police that he had been drinking earlier in the evening before taking the wheel of the Chevrolet pickup truck that rolled after colliding with a Honda CR-V. The victim was riding in the back of the pickup and died after being ejected during the crash. Probable-cause documents say the driver was behind the wheel despite having a license suspended for unpaid tickets, including one for violating an order to have an ignition interlock, and had been arrested for alleged DUI in Island County, with the charges eventually reduced. He is due back in court on Wednesday, which is the deadline for prosecutors to file charges. His record includes two days in the King County Jail this past February on a charge of domestic-violence assault.
ADDED TUESDAY: There have been a few questions about circumstances. Here is the entirety, transcribed, of the police-written narrative contained in the probable-cause documents (with names omitted); we’re likely to get something longer if charges are filed tomorrow:
I responded to a traffic collision in the 7900 block Delridge Way Southwest where one person had been killed as a result. I learned from one driver identified as [CR-V driver] he was driving east on SW Kenyon St. behind another vehicle and they both had a green signal in their favor. Another vehicle apparently being operated by [suspect’s name] was southbound, failed to stop for a red signal and they collided. [Officer] reported that the [suspect’s] vehicle rolled over and a person riding in the back was ejected and killed. [Suspect] was transported to Harborview Hospital and the officer guarding him received information from a Seattle Firefighter that [suspect] appeared to have been drinking alcohol. I secured a sample of [suspect’s] blood under authority of a search warrant. The results of the analysis are pending. I met with [suspect] and advised him of his constitutional rights. In response to my questions, [suspect] admitted to drinking alcohol earlier tonight and is a marijuana user but had not used any tonight. [Suspect] had no memory of the collision or what led up to it. According to Washington Department of Licensing (his) driver’s license is suspended 3rd degree for unpaid tickets, one of which is for a conviction of Ignition Interlock Restriction in Seattle Municipal Court. Also (he) has one DUI charge that was reduced to Negligent Driving 1st degree from Island County. While I spoke with (him), I detected foul breath but no odor of alcohol. His speech was slurred and thick tongued and eyes watery and bloodshot. He was also crying.
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