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An Olympia man behind the wheel of the Camry was critically injured, and four passengers suffered injuries, court papers state.
Charie Renee Coulliette, 31, of Olympia was arrested at Providence St. Peter Hospital on Saturday on suspicion of five counts of vehicular assault, based on a Washington State Patrol trooper’s observation that she “had bloodshot and watery eyes and smelled of intoxicants,” court papers state.
The crash occurred about 2 a.m. Saturday, when the Durango headed east on Route 510 crossed the center line and collided with the Camry headed west between Meridian Road Southeast and 35th Lane Southeast near Nisqually, according to the State Patrol.
Coulliette was being held at the Thurston County Jail on Monday with bail set at $100,000, a jail official said.
According to court papers:
Coulliette told the trooper that the night of the crash, she “had consumed several beers at her cousin’s house.” She also said that “after leaving her cousin’s house she stopped at the Emperor’s Palace in Lacey where she consumed several more beers, a mixed alcoholic drink and a shot of an unknown alcoholic drink. Coulliette said after the mixed drink she recalls very little of the evening.”
Coulliette said she remembers that a 6-foot-tall black man “she just met was driving her vehicle. The next thing she remembers is she was in a collision.”
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most intoxicated she had ever been, Coulliette told the trooper “she was a 6 before leaving the bar.”
The State Patrol’s investigation is inconsistent with a 6-foot-tall person being behind the wheel at the time of the crash. An abrasion on Coulliette’s neck that was observed by the trooper “is consistent with a seatbelt mark from a seatbelt worn by occupants on the left side/driver’s side of the vehicle.”
Also, a K-9 unit was deployed at the scene of the crash and “did not locate a track away from the (Durango) which is consistent with no person fleeing from the scene.”
A State Patrol detective also noticed that when checking the Durango, “the driver’s seat appeared too close for a person of 6 feet in height.”
State Patrol Sgt. Freddy Williams said Monday that the State Patrol took a blood sample from Coulliette at the hospital Saturday to determine her blood alcohol level, but the results were not available.
The driver of the Camry, Danny Morgan Jr., 27, of Olympia, was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with critical injuries, according to the State Patrol.
The Camry’s other passengers, Kathleen A. Quittenton, 27, of Olympia; Angela D. Morgan, 64, of Olympia; and Brenda K. Morgan, 58, and Danny W. Morgan, 54, both of Springfield, Ohio, were taken to St. Peter with injuries.
Brenda and Angela Morgan had minor injuries, court papers state. Quittenton suffered a broken left leg, according to court papers.
Danny W. Morgan was suffering from “bleeding on the brain, rib fractures, and liver hematoma” after the crash, court papers state.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465 jpawloski@theolympian.com
