Two women, each suspected of driving under the influence, collided with each other at the intersection of 5th Ave and Simmons Street in downtown Olympia at approximately 3 p.m. last Thursday, May 20.
Victoria Abernathy
When Olympia Police arrived at the scene, Victoria Abernathy, 32, of Olympia, was laying on her back, on a patch of grass, holding a bloodied rag to stem the flow coming from a small cut on her forehead. In the officer’s report, it was deemed that Abernathy was under the influence of alcohol.
Abernathy was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital and put in a bed with a neck brace. An officer who followed her there reported that he checked for signs of impairment found that her eyes were watery, lacked “smooth pursuit.” Based on this, another officer wrote up a warrant for a blood draw.
Abernathy’s blood results are pending.
Cheryle Ratzlaff
Abernathy told officers that she had was moving through the intersection’s green light when Cheryle Ratzlaff, 57, of Olympia, turned left on Simmons St, where the two cars collided.
Ratzlaff told officers that she had two wine glasses four hours prior. Ratzlaff did inform Olympia Police that she was on medication as recently having gone through chest surgery.
As Ratzlaff was about to be put through field sobriety testing, Ratzlaff’s husband arrived and told officers that his wife would not go through the tests. While her husband continually advised her not to go through the tests as they were not mandatory, Ratzlaff continued through several tests, and showed no signs of impairment for the officer. However, she refused the portable breathalyzer test on scene.
Escorted to Olympia Jail, Ratzlaff admitted to having two previous DUIs in the past 20 years. Ratlaff blood alcohol level, measured on a Draeger breathalyzer, measured 0.162, two times the legal limit of 0.08.
Ratzlaff was booked into the Olympia Jail for driving under the influence.
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