Photo: Snohomish County Sheriff's Office/Washington State Memorial Foundation
An illegal migrant from Mexico accused of crashing into and killing a Washington state trooper admitted to smoking marijuana and drinking beers before the incident took place.
Raul Benitez Santana, 33, said he had two beers and smoked weed prior to getting behind the wheel of the SUV involved in the crash that killed Trooper Christopher Gadd, which took place on Interstate 5 in Marysville Saturday (March 2) morning, according to a probable cause statement obtained by KOMO. A witness told police that they saw the vehicle traveling at fast speeds and swerving before striking the back of Gadd's patrol car, which was parked on the shoulder of the highway and then spun into the fast lane before being hit by an oncoming van.
Gadd, a married father whose dad and sister also serve for the Washington State Police Department, was pronounced dead at the scene. Santana was reported to have had bloodshot eyes when questioned by police, at which point he admitted to smoking weed and consuming two beers prior to driving.
Santana is currently being held at the Snohomish County Jail on a $1 million bond after a judge found probable cause to hand down charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault in relation to the incident. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also confirmed that the Seattle Enforcement and Removal Operations had placed an immigration detainer on the illegal migrant.