Driver drunk in deadly wreck, police say

A 32-year-old Bellingham man’s blood-alcohol level was at twice the legal limit when he drove off a road on North Whidbey last fall, killing one passenger and seriously injuring another, according to a report by a State Patrol detective.

Prosecutors charged Jonathan Everbeck in Island County Superior Court June 4 with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. Both charges involve driving while under the influence.

Everbeck, an Oak Harbor High School graduate, pleaded not guilty June 18.

State Patrol Det. Jeffrey Rhue investigated the early-morning accident on Jones Road Nov. 19. Everbeck was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer, failed to negotiate a curve in the road and rolled the vehicle, Rhue wrote.

Passenger Bryn Boyd, a 26-year-old Bellingham woman, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Another passenger, a 27-year-old Ohio resident named Paul Thompson, was also ejected and was seriously injured. He was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was in a coma for several weeks. He suffered significant head trauma and permanent brain damage, the report states.

Two other passengers were not injured.

Rhue wrote that Everbeck admitted to a trooper that he had been drinking alcoholic beverages. A blood toxicology report showed Everbeck had a blood-ethanol level of 0.16 one hour and thirty-five minutes after the collision, the report states. The legal limit for drivers is 0.08.

Under the standard sentencing range, Everbeck could face from three years and five months to four years and six months in prison if convicted of the charges.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.

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