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FINALY the TRUTH comes out...THE OLYMPIAN- OCTOBER 10, 2006Viewing the investigation marks painted on Interstate 5 from the Eastside St Bridge,,Joe Cole just wants an accurate investigation of the auto accident that claimed his son's life as nagging questions still haunt him. Steve Bloom/The Olympianjeremy pawloskiThe State Patrol has evidence that alcohol might have been involved in a recent fatal accident, but the father of the young man who died says he's afraid the patrol might have botched the investigation.The car Kaylin Burgett, 21, was driving vaulted over a guardrail on Eastside Street Sept. 23, landing upside down on Interstate 5, killing passenger Jeremy Cole, 26.The case is under investigation as a vehicular homicide, State Patrol Sgt. Dan Hall said.Hall said Monday that in the days after the crash, "information was provided that alcohol was involved." He declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.On Monday, State Patrol detective Juli Mitchell confirmed that troopers have interviewed two witnesses who say they were with Burgett at the Lacey bar Pints and Quarts, in the 1200 block of College Street, shortly before the crash.Scott McKinney, co-owner of Pints and Quarts, declined to comment Monday.Jeremy Cole's father, Joe Cole, expressed anger about the patrol's failure to immediately get a blood sample from Burgett to determine whether she was intoxicated."The original reports were, they did not believe alcohol was involved, and that's contrary to what the coroner told us," Cole said.County Coroner Judy Arnold said she could not discuss the case because state law bars her from making public statements about information her office obtains.Cole said it was his understanding the patrol is now investigating whether Burgett consumed alcohol because he and others "are making a big stink.""I would say that I am outraged," Cole said. "They seem to have botched the investigation."Cole said he thinks officers should take a blood sample from any driver involved in a fatality, unless they can rule out suspicion of alcohol use or intoxication as a factor.State Patrol spokesman Trooper Bill Ashcraft responded, "We have to have probable cause to take blood. You can't just take blood. That's an unconstitutional search.""This investigation's far from over," Ashcraft added.Initially, alcohol was not investigated as a factor, the patrol has said. Hall confirmed that the patrol did not take a blood sample from Burgett immediately after the crash because there was no probable cause, such as an odor of alcohol or alcoholic beverage containers in the car.When there is probable cause, law enforcement officers are allowed to take a blood sample, Hall said. A blood sample is analyzed for alcohol content to determine whether the individual was over the legal limit for drunken driving, 0.08 percent in this state.Joe Cole said that if what happened when Burgett was driving his son's car Sept. 23 is not probable cause, then he does not know what is. He said that if alcohol or drugs cannot be reasonably ruled out in a motor vehicle fatality, a blood sample should be taken from the driver.Nicole Ray, 22, a friend of Jeremy Cole, said she was with Cole and Burgett at Pints and Quarts. She described Cole as "the kind of person who would do anything for his friends."Ray said that she had planned to give Cole a ride home that night, but police came to the bar about 1:30 a.m. to investigate a fight, and when that happened, "we all just separated.""I felt guilty because I should have kept my eye on Jeremy a little bit closer," Ray said.Shayla McKnight, 27, another friend of Cole who said she was at Pints and Quarts that night, said she didn't know that Burgett was driving Cole's car that night."We all left at the same time," McKnight said of the group. She said that "Jeremy never drank and drove a vehicle."Joe Cole said he fears that the patrol's failure to get a blood sample from Burgett might impede investigators as they try to determine whether she was intoxicated.However, Hall said the State Patrol does "have avenues to go back and try to determine if she had alcohol in her system at the time." Hall said officers might be able to get that information from the hospital where she was admitted after the crash, but he declined to elaborate.Ashcraft said that troopers also are investigating whether Burgett might be charged with vehicular homicide for driving recklessly, or with "disregard for the safety of others."On the night of the crash, Burgett was driving too fast to make a right turn from Wheeler Avenue onto Eastside Street about 2 a.m., the State Patrol has said. Jeremy Cole's 2002 Honda Civic, which she was driving, struck the curb and the sidewalk of Eastside, which beco mes an I-5 overpass at that location.The car vaulted over the guardrail and landed on its top about 30 feet below on the far right northbound lane of I-5, the State Patrol has said. Witnesses said the car might have been going as fast as 60 mph, Ashcraft has said.Kaylin Burgett was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and was listed in serious condition after the crash. She has since been released, a nursing supervisor there said. Kaylin Burgett's mother returned a reporter's phone call, but said in a voice message she'd likely have no comment.Joe Cole said he wants to see justice done."I believe that if (Burgett) was drunk driving, she should be arrested and charged," he said. He said that at the least Burgett was driving recklessly.After the investigation is complete, a detective will likely make a recommendation on what, if any, charges should be filed, and the case will be forwarded to the county prosecutor's office, Hall said. He added that typically, the patrol makes a charging recommendation about 45 days after a crash.Anyone with information about the crash is encouraged to call State Patrol detective Juli Mitchell at 253-536-4376.The Sept. 23 crash that killed Cole is one of three Thurston County motor vehicle fatalities in the past month where deaths of young people might be linked to alcohol.- North Thurston High School senior Alex Ward, 17, died in a single car crash in mid-September that the State Patrol reported was alcohol-related.- Adrianne Wallace, a 16-year-old Tumwater High School junior, died as a passenger in a one-vehicle crash on Black Lake Boulevard a little more than a week ago. Zechariah Matthew McRea, the 19-year-old male driver in the crash that killed Wallace, faces a vehicular homicide charge, and the State Patrol has said that alcohol is suspected.- A fourth South Sound young person, Michael Butler, 21, died in a crash in September when his car struck a tree on Steamboat Island Road but police did not report at the time that he was under the influence of intoxicants. Butler had a suspended license and a prior arrest for driving while intoxicated.An individual convicted of vehicular homicide, a class A felony, can be sentenced to life in prison. To be convicted of vehicular homicide, the state must prove that a driver caused the death of another due to any one of the following factors:- That a driver was under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs.- That a driver was reckless.- That a driver was acting with disregard for the safety of others.
