Bail set at $500,000 for man arrested after road-rage incident led to other driver’s death
A Thurston County Superior Court judge on Monday set bail at $500,000 for a man accused of first-degree manslaughter and other crimes following an apparent road-rage incident on Saturday.
Robert Barry Leland, 54, of Lacey, is accused of rear-ending a 58-year-old driver who then suffered a medical emergency and died in the 3900 block of Sleater Kinney Road Northeast. The man who died had his children with him.
Judge Mary Sue Wilson found probable cause for the alleged crimes of first-degree manslaughter (reckless), three counts of second-degree assault, three counts of reckless endangerment and a count each of driving under the influence, hit-and-run attended vehicle and reckless driving.
The DUI details were not contained in the probable cause statement, but were added during Monday’s preliminary hearing, with Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Noelle Green explaining that Leland was ultimately stopped by Lacey police.
They observed partially empty liquor bottles on the front passenger side floor, she said.
“The Lacey police officers believed that Mr. Leland was under the influence, and they asked and obtained a search warrant for Mr. Leland’s blood that was taken at a later time,” Green said.
Leland’s public defender, Diana Wildland, took issue with the alleged crimes of DUI and manslaughter.
“Having some liquor bottles on the floor of a car, whether they be partially finished or otherwise, I don’t think is sufficient in order to find probable cause of a DUI at this time,” she said.
As for the manslaughter allegation, she said: “We do not believe that the nexus between my client’s alleged conduct, my client having his car hit another car, is sufficient in order for him to have a foreseeable outcome that the decedent would later have a panic attack that would cause him to die.”
Green countered with her own argument.
“The state believes that if not for the road rage incident, the victim would not have been in this situation, (would not) have had a panic attack and then would (not) have passed away,” she said.
The state recommended $1 million in bail, with Green pointing out that Leland is not new to the criminal justice system and has several prior DUI offenses.
“The children in the car witnessed an incident where they didn’t ask for this to happen,” she said. “They’re seeing their father engaged as the victim of this road-rage incident, and then, unfortunately, due to the incident, the state believes that they watched their father get out of the car and ultimately pass away. This is a traumatic event that could have been avoided by Mr. Leland not drinking and driving.”
Leland’s attorney responded with a bail request of $20,000. She also disagreed with a request for an anti-harassment order between Leland and the victim’s wife.
Ultimately, Wilson set bail and several release conditions, including the anti-harassment order.
The man who died is set to be examined by the Thurston County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday.
Leland’s arraignment is set for May 27.
What happened?
The probable cause statement spells out the investigation from law enforcement’s perspective.
A Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched to the South Bay Grange in the 3900 block of Sleater Kinney Road Northeast at about 7 p.m. Saturday, May 10.
While the deputy was en route, they learned that “Fire (crews) advised that they had a middle-aged man that was coughing up blood and had difficulty breathing. Fire also advised that their patient informed them of a possible road-rage issue. While heading to the call, fire advised dispatch that they had started CPR on the male patient.”
The deputy arrived to find a parking lot and nearby lot filled with people and fire personnel.
“In the gravel lot nearby, there were multiple children who were screaming, crying, pacing around and were visibly upset. One female child was screaming out loud, ‘Noooo!’ Another child was screaming, ‘We did nothing wrong!’”
The deputy finally was able to talk to the three children, all of whom had the same story: that a black truck (allegedly driven by Leland) had hit their father’s red truck from behind an estimated four or five times on Johnson Point Road Northeast as they left their cabin on Walnut Road Northeast.
Two witnesses told the deputy they saw both trucks pull into the grange parking lot at a high speed.
“Concerned of what was happening, they both walked over to the parking lot and saw the male of the red truck was leaning over the bed of his truck visibly upset and speaking with the male of the black truck. (The witness) stated the male of the red truck was clearly not OK and was holding his chest and breathing heavily while speaking with the other driver. (The witness) also stated that the other driver appeared to be laughing and figured the two were friends, so she walked back to the backyard with her son to give them privacy.”
The witness added that “the male of the black truck was wearing what appeared to be a turquoise long sleeve and had a black hat on backwards with black sunglasses. The witness also stated he could kind of hear the conversations and stated the driver of the red truck kept asking, ‘What did I do?’”
One of the victim’s children explained that once they pulled over at the grange there was no altercation between the two men, but that Leland allegedly “appeared to not care for what he did” and eventually left.
The wife of the man who died told deputies he suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure; fire crews said the man appeared to be out of breath and told them he was having a panic attack.
“(Fire crew members said the victim) made no complaints of injuries and was just really worked up, so they tried to get him to calm down. (They) were getting his blood pressure when he started to collapse.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
