Teen driver faces possible charges in deadly crash in Auburn

Published 4:43 pm Thursday, July 7, 2011

The 17-year-old Granite Falls boy who drove his Honda Civic into the R Street Bridge over the Stuck River early Saturday may face vehicular homicide and vehicular assault charges, Auburn police said Thursday.

Auburn Police Commander Mike Hirman said the as-yet-unidentified driver remained in serious but stable condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle as of Thursday afternoon.

His right front seat passenger, Cory Elam, 21, of Auburn, died of blunt-force injuries to the head, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Harborview doctors treated a 20-year-old Auburn woman for broken limbs and later released her. A third passenger, also from Auburn, was not hurt.

Hirman said the group had been heading to Auburn about 4 a.m. with five friends in another car – a Honda Accord – after leaving a “youth-organized gathering” in Bonney Lake. Both cars were northbound on Kersey Way Southeast when the Civic passed the Accord near Oravetz Road Southeast and lost control, hitting a signpost and then a concrete bridge abutment, Hirman said.

“The speed limit is 35 miles per hour there,” Hirman said. “We haven’t determined exactly what his speed was, but witnesses have told us his speed was greater than 35 miles per hour. It looked like he was speeding and passing in a no-passing zone. When he tried to bring the vehicle back to his own northbound lane of travel, he was not able to negotiate the curve before striking the right concrete bridge abutment. The left center of the vehicle struck the abutment and stopped.”

Hirman said there is no indication that alcohol or drugs played a role in the accident.

“We still need to obtain additional information,” Hirman said. “The King County Prosecutor is likely to file vehicle homicide and vehicular assault charges, though I’m not sure when. Yesterday, the lead traffic investigator was going to submit his findings.”

Hirman said police are also looking into the actions of the Accord’s driver.”

The case hasn’t been referred to us yet,”  Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s Office said late Friday. “He’s still in the hospital.”