Mr. William Willard was driving north towards Newport October 3, 2010. He had been drinking. In a moment of inattention, he drifted into the southbound lane. He would have hit the southbound pickup pulling a car trailer, except for the alert driver of that truck. That driver, traveling with his wife and daughter swerved into the ditch, missing the head-on collision that was coming. Mr. Willard hit the side of the car trailer and then recovered and kept on going. The trailer was totaled, but the people were safe.
The incident was investigated by the WSP. After some help from family members of the southbound driver and following the marks in the asphalt pavement left there by the rim of the vehicle, the troopers found him at his home. Mr. Willard was arrested and taken for a breath test. Nearly 5 hours after the accident he blew a .14 on the BAC. He was charged with DUI, Hit and Run Attended, DWLS 3rd and No Ignition Interlock.
Mr. Willard entered a plea of guilty to all the charges on December 1, 2010. The court was made aware that he had prior DUIs from 2007, 2004, and 1999. Judge Tveit listened to the state and the victim, and then heard from the defense attorney and then from the defendant. After hearing from all these sides, she sentenced him to the maximum term possible; 365 days in jail to commence on December 15, 2010. He will be off the road for awhile.
Mr. Wayne Michael Miller pleaded guilty to Identity Theft on Tuesday November 30. He was involved in the use of a credit card stolen from his Grandmother. He was with Joshua T. Williams (who has previously pleaded guilty) when he went to a Spokane mall and made purchases on the credit card. His Grandmother’s home had been burglarized and the card taken.
Mr. Miller’s Grandmother, went to the stores in Spokane, retrieved their security camera footage, and turned it all over to the sheriff’s office. She identified her grandson as one of the participants, though Josh Williams was the person who signed for the purchases.
Mr. Miller did not have any criminal history. The State recommended and he received, 90 days in jail, followed by 12 months of community custody. DOC will not terminate this supervision early under this sentence. Josh Williams previously received a sentence of 12 months and 1 day prison, based upon his criminal history.