Charges have been filed against Enumclaw resident Michelle Oster, 63, for allegedly causing the Sunday, Oct. 13 fatal three-car wreck on state Route 410.
Oster, who also goes by the last name Thomas, was officially charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault on Oct. 16.
According to King County Superior Court and police documents, first responders received a call to a three-car crash around 11:28 a.m.
Initial witnesses told Washington State Patrol that Oster attempted to pass multiple vehicles while driving west on the highway by merging into the eastbound lane in a no-passing zone.
Another added that they were driving at 55 mph when Oster attempted to pass them, “going considerably faster,” the police report reads, and that Oster was trying to pass up to eight or 10 vehicles.
When a Honda Fit travelling east became visible, Oster reportedly attempted to get back into the westbound lane but struck a third car that was also going west. However, she reportedly struck a Subaru Outback in the westbound lane, and caused the Subaru to rotate into the eastbound lane, where the Honda T-boned it in the passenger side.
Jenna Rheuben, 32, of Seattle, and Kelly Nakata, 38, of Seattle and a dog were in the Honda; the two suffered major injuries and had to be flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, and the dog was taken to an emergency vet.
Kim Davis Nordberg, 72, of Lakebay, and Bette Nordberg, 69, of Puyallup, in the Subaru, were dead when first responders arrived, and two dogs in their vehicle were also transported to an emergency vet.
The Enumclaw Fire Department, Buckley Fire Department, Kent-based Puget Sound Fire, Valley Regional Fire Authority and King County Medic One responded to the crash.
Oster was uninjured and was arrested on the scene.
She allegedly told troopers that the Subaru driver caused the accident by stepping on the breaks when she tried to merge back into the westbound lane; that she wasn’t speeding, “maybe a ‘little tiny bit, but not much’” and that other people told her she was “‘being safe’”; and that she was trying to get off of Dilaudid, an opioid pain medication.
Oster posted bond Oct. 14, according to King County jail records. Bail was set at $100,000 by the court at her Oct. 14 first appearance, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Oster is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Oct. 30 in the GA courtroom of the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
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