King County prosecutors charged a 24-year-old Seattle woman with vehicular assault and other charges in connection with a Jan. 6 police pursuit on Kent’s East Hill.
Ashley Ann Wanaka faces charges of vehicular assault, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and hit and run, according to charging papers filed by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, Jan. 22 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Wanaka allegedly ran into a vehicle, driven by Samir Gardi, 37, of Kent, in the 9000 block of Canyon Drive as she drove westbound in the eastbound lanes. Paramedics transported Gardi to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where doctors performed emergency surgery. He suffered a severely broken leg, pelvis and other serious injuries, according to court documents.
Gardi, as of Tuesday, remained in satisfactory condition at Harborview, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Firefighters from the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority extracted Gardi, who was trapped inside his vehicle. Paramedics treated Wanaka for minor injuries. She remained in the county jail with bail set at $200,000.
The incident started at about 9:55 a.m. on Jan. 6 when a Kent officer saw a green Toyota Camry driving past him with expired license tabs on its rear plate. The officer activated his emergency lights and attempted to pull the driver over in the 24800 block of 104th Avenue Southeast. But Wanaka reportedly failed to yield and began to accelerate away from the officer.
She failed to stop for a red light at the intersection of Southeast 256th Street and 104th Avenue Southeast and rear-ended a vehicle. The driver of that vehicle, a 54-year-old woman, was not injured.
Wanaka then drove westbound on Southeast 256th Street. Another officer saw the collision and began to pursue Wanaka, who ran another red light at 100th Avenue Southeast. She then swerved into the oncoming eastbound lanes and began passing vehicles as 256th Street turns into Canyon Drive. The officer reached speeds of 70 mph but Wanaka still managed to pull away from him. The posted speed along the street is 40 mph.
A short time later, Wanaka’s car collided with a vehicle driven by Gardi.
The woman told police she fled because she didn’t have a driver’s license and she had warrants for her arrest. Police discovered Wanaka had warrants for prostitution, drug possession and negligent driving. She had a suspended driver’s license for several failure to appear in court notices and unpaid tickets.
Wanaka had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, according to the charging papers. A portable breath test indicated alcohol did not cause the impairment. She admitted to officers to smoking a bowl of marijuana two to three hours before the crash. A judge authorized a blood draw from Wanaka. Results from the Washington State Toxicology Lab are pending.
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