Police and prosecutors on Whidbey Island have been busy in recent weeks with a series of felony-level cases in which drivers were suspected of being impaired.
The cases include a suspected vehicular homicide and a felony DUI in which the driver was previously convicted of vehicular homicide.
Cindy Wilson, 57, was arrested after a June 29 crash on North Whidbey that killed Oak Harbor resident Steven Parson and injured five others, including herself.
Wilson was driving on Frostad Road, went through the intersection with State Highway 20 without stopping and struck a vehicle traveling on the highway, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Wilson allegedly performed poorly on a roadside sobriety test and admitted to using methamphetamine the previous day.
Wilson was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. Prosecutors are waiting for results from a blood test before making a charging decision.
On July 11, a trooper with the Washington State Patrol pulled over Randi Shelton, 47, for allegedly speeding on Highway 20 on North Whidbey. The trooper suspected that she was impaired. A portable breath test measured her blood-alcohol level at 0.10 while the limit in the state is 0.08, according to court documents.
In 2008, Shelton was convicted of vehicular homicide for driving drunk and causing an accident that killed Greenbank resident Karen Gervais-Boone, a mother of two and a well-known school advocate. A judge sentenced Shelton to seven years in prison.
A DUI becomes a felony if a driver had previously been convicted of vehicular homicide.
Also on July 11, an Oak Harbor police officer made a traffic stop on 26-year-old Alexander Meadows. The officer suspected that Meadows was impaired and arrested him after he performed poorly on a roadside sobriety test, according to the officer’s report.
Meadows’ blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.193 and 0.198 and six minutes later at 0.179.
Meadows was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI because he had three prior DUIs in the last three years, two of which were in Tennessee. A DUI becomes a felony if someone has three prior DUI convictions in the last decade.
In addition, Meadows was driving without the required ignition interlock device and had a container with suspected oxycodone pills, according to the officer’s report.
On July 5, a trooper arrested Jonathan Readd, 23, in Oak Harbor after he led police on three high-speed chases on a stolen motorcycle; he was suspected of being high on methamphetamine, according to the police report.
Readd was arrested after crashing the motorcycle and trying to run away.
On June 17, Victoria Contreras-Misemaji, 18, of Burlington, was arrested after driving drunk on North Whidbey, crashing into a car she was tailgating and spitting on a trooper who pulled her over, according to court documents.
Contreras-Misemaji was charged with two counts of hit and run, assault in the third degree, DUI, reckless driving and resisting arrest.
