COURT DOCUMENTS: Driver in fatal SUV into house crash smelled of alcohol

KCPQ-TV



SAMMAMISH, Wash – A King County Deputy who responded to the scene of an SUV into a house on Lake Sammamish last Friday said the 68-year-old driver smelled of alcohol, made inconsistent statements and declined to take a blood alcohol test at the scene, according to documents from the prosecutor’s office.

Two people are dead after the crash -- the driver’s 70-year-old husband and another 40-year-old relative --both were inside the home when the SUV plowed through and ended up in the lake.

The driver was initially booked into jail, but then releasedand is facing possible charges connected to the crash. Police continue to investigate whether the Jeep she was driving experienced mechanical problems or whether she may have been impaired behind the wheel.

In the statement of probable cause the responding officer wrote about the driver that, “the smell of alcohol intoxicants was very strong when I got her out of the car.”

The officer additionally wrote, “I could continue to smell alcohol on her breath when she spoke.”

The woman’s daughter was also critically injured and remains at Harborview Medical Center.

A neighbor, Dr. Kevin Connolly, who witnessed the aftermath said the woman was re-positioning the SUV when she lost control with her grandson inside the vehicle. It then plowed into the front of the house and possibly through the living room before it hit the deck then the dock.

“She had her grandson on her lap and was re-parking her car she put it into gear and she took off, it’s a brand new Jeep it took of right through the house,” said Connolly.

Another neighbor who spoke with the driver right after the crash said the woman was in shock and didn’t know why the Jeep accelerated.