Mercer Island Reporter: man charged in vehicular homicide for being impaired by marijuana and killing a 23 year old graduate of Mercer Island High School. (Bold highlights are from Mercer Island Communities that Care Coalition Director, Derek Franklin. Derek is a colleague and friend of the SJIPC.)
Arraignment for man charged in death of Islander is Jan. 2
King County prosecutors contend Caleb Floyd, 33, cut off motorcyclist Blake Gaston on Oct. 4. Gaston, 23, struck the side of Floyd’s car and suffered catastrophic injuries.
Arraignment will be held on January 2 for the Bellevue man who is charged with Vehicular Homicide for allegedly driving while impaired by marijuana and causing a collision with a motorcyclist in early October in Bellevue. The defendant allegedly made a left turn directly in front of an oncoming motorcycle. The motorcyclist, who grew up on Mercer Island and attended Mercer Island High School, died in the collision.
Thursday’s arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 1201 at the King County Courthouse. According to charging papers, Floyd admitted to smoking marijuana two hours before the crash. Prosecutors contend a blood draw taken hours after the crash found levels of THC – the drug in marijuana – in Floyd’s blood to be nearly twice the legal limit.
At 6 p.m. the day of the crash, Gaston was crossing 102nd Avenue Northeast on Northeast 10th Street when Floyd, who’d been headed east, cut left, a Bellevue police officer said in court papers.
Unable to stop, Gaston laid down his KTM 450 motorcycle and slid into the side of Floyd’s Acura coupe. Medics responding to the crash rushed Gaston to Overlake Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Having stopped his car nearby, Floyd was taken to the Bellevue police station, where he was given a field sobriety test 90 minutes after the crash. According to charging documents, Floyd failed the tests and subsequently underwent a blood draw.
Asked if he’d smoked marijuana prior to the crash, Floyd produced a medical marijuana card, the officer continued.
“I knew you were going to pin this on me,” Floyd told the officer, according to charging papers.
Floyd is currently jailed on $100,000 bail.