Previously convicted of vehicular assault, man charged with DUI

Prosecutors charged Brian Shelley, 50, in Island County Superior Court Feb. 17 with felony DUI.

A Freeland man who was sent to prison seven years ago for causing a crash while driving under the influence was recently arrested for allegedly driving under the influence, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Brian Shelley, 50, in Island County Superior Court Feb. 17 with felony DUI.

Under state law, a DUI becomes a felony offense when a defendant had previously been convicted of vehicular assault while under the influence of intoxicating liquor.

According to a report by a trooper with the Washington State Patrol, Shelley crashed his SUV into a snow bank and a guardrail on the afternoon of Feb. 13. Nobody was injured.

The trooper noted that Shelley had slurred speech, had a slight odor of intoxication and kept identifying himself as “we.”

The trooper explained twice to Shelley how to do roadside sobriety tests, but Shelley just stared at him, the report states. Shelley refused to do a portable breathalyzer and the trooper arrested him on suspicion of DUI, the report states.

The trooper wrote that he obtained a search warrant to test Shelley’s blood for alcohol.

In 2013, Shelley was speeding and intoxicated on Ewing Road in Clinton when he crashed into another vehicle and injured the driver, court records show.

A witness said Shelley fled from the scene, carrying a liquor bottle. A deputy quickly apprehended Shelley, whose blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.091 percent.

The following year, a jury found Shelley guilty of one count of vehicular assault and one count of hit and run with injury.

The judge sentenced him to four years and nine months in prison.