Driver charged with vehicular homicide

A Lynnwood woman whose 2002 Nissan Sentra left an I-5 offramp and overturned was charged Friday with vehicular homicide after her passenger died as a result of the crash.

Lisa Ann Dassinger, 29, had been driving drunk when the car left the roadway in Lynnwood and plummeted down an embankment and overturned, deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro said.

The passenger, Chad Aldridge, was ejected and died from his injuries, Cavagnaro said. The defendant had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.13, well above the legal limit of 0.8, Cavagnaro said in court papers.

Dassinger had been driving north on I-5 when she took the exit to Highway 525. Another driver saw the Sentra leave the road and go down the embankment. He found Dassinger unconscious in the driver’s seat. She later told State Patrol troopers she had been driving the car, Cavagnaro said.

The witness told troopers he saw the Sentra drive straight ahead instead of attempting to negotiate the curve. He told officers he saw no brake lights as the vehicle left the highway, Cavagnaro said.

Cavagnaro said Dassinger had one previous drunken driving conviction in 2002.

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