Driver allegedly rear ends another car while drunk

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A Renton man was arrested and later released after allegedly rear-ending another vehicle while driving drunk through a Lacey intersection.

Lacey police arrested the suspect, Matthew Wayne Ereth, 33, after a reported collision near the intersection of College Street SE and Lacey Boulevard SE on May 17.

The reporting party told authorities that her car was rear-ended by a white Volkswagen Passat driven by a man, later identified as Ereth, who appeared to be intoxicated because he was unable to communicate. No one was injured in the incident.

The suspect continued driving southbound on College Street after the collision, the reporting party said.

An officer initiated a traffic stop after locating Ereth driving along College Street. The suspect traveled about half a block before coming to a stop on Lacey Boulevard, the officer wrote in his report.

The officer said he informed Ereth that he was stopped because he was involved in a collision.

“The male stared at me blankly for several seconds before stating, ‘No,’” the officer wrote in his report. “When the male spoke to me I could smell the odor of intoxicants emitting from his exhaled breath.”

Ereth spent three to four minutes looking for his driver’s license and had to be reminded thrice about what he was searching for, the officer said, adding that the suspect’s speech was “slow and slurred” and he lost his balance when he exited his vehicle.

The suspect refused to participate in a field sobriety test or preliminary breath test and declined to provide a sample of his breath or blood, the report stated. Police sought a warrant to obtain Ereth’s blood sample for the investigation and a judge approved.

Ereth’s blood sample was taken at the Providence St. Peter Hospital and will be forwarded to the Washington State Crime Lab for a toxicology report.

Ereth was booked into the Nisqually Jail for driving under the influence and hit and run attended. Jail records show that he was released on May 18.

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  • bobkat

    C'mon - who's editing this copy? The lead should read; "Driver rear ends another car while allegedly drunk?" There's can be no doubt that he rear ended the struck car - it's his condition of sobriety (or lack thereof) at the time of the collision that's being alleged. SHEESH!

    Friday, May 27, 2022 Report this

  • FirstOtter

    And yet he was 'released". What a godsend-he can sleep off a drunk in the safety of a cell. I bet they even gave him back his keys and told him where his car was.

    Friday, May 27, 2022 Report this