Officer failed to give implied consent warning, nullifying blood alcohol test
Pretrial hearing is July 23, 10 a.m. in District Court for the driver of a car that got airborne and crashed on Cattle Point and Golf Course roads, injuring the driver and killing his dog.
Jared Wold is charged with reckless driving and third-degree driving with license suspended in the April 2 crash. If convicted of both charges, he could get up to 15 months in jail and $6,000 in fines.
Wold is represented by Tom Pacher, a public defender. A message was left on Pacher’s voice mail Thursday.
Wold is also charged in Superior Court with second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class C felony. No trial date has been set. According to court documents, a Mossberg model 500a 12-gauge shotgun was found in the backseat of Wold’s car at the scene.
Investigators believe alcohol may have been a factor, as well as vehicle speed, but a law enforcement officer at St. Joseph Hospital failed to give Wold an “implied consent warning” before taking a blood test.
Earlier reports stated that Wold was taken to Harborview Medical Center, but court documents say he was taken to St. Joseph.
Sheriff Bill Cumming called “implied consent warning” a “procedural issue” tantamount to reading someone their rights.
Under the state’s implied consent law, “the officer shall warn the driver … (a) If the driver refuses to take the test, the driver’s license, permit or privilege to drive will be revoked or denied for at least one year; and (b) If the driver refuses to take the test, the driver’s refusal to take the test may be used in a criminal trial; and (c) If the driver submits to the test and the test is administered, the driver’s license, permit or privilege to drive will be suspended, revoked or denied for at least ninety days” if the test determines the alcohol concentration of the driver’s breath or blood is 0.08 or more.
Without having given an implied consent warning, a suspect’s blood alcohol level cannot be admitted as evidence.
Investigators believe Wold, 22, of Friday Harbor was driving south on Mullis Street at a high rate of speed and missed the curve at Golf Course Road. Investigators believe his 1993 Lincoln launched out of a ditch, traveled through the air at 52 mph, cleared the road and some junction boxes, clipped a tree and crashed into a field owned by Jeff and Alicia Carnevali, leaving a trail of debris.
A neighbor heard the crash and called 911 at 10:33 p.m. Wold was found walking on the road, attempting to flag cars down for help, Cumming said. He was bleeding from a cut on the bridge of his nose and had blood on the top of his head, court documents state.
Wold was flown to St. Joseph for treatment of injuries. His dog was dead at the scene.
