Sheriff’s office identifies man killed in Battle Ground crash

More details emerged Thursday in a car crash near Battle Ground on Tuesday that claimed the life of an 18-year-old Portland man.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office on identified Arnoux Benjamin as the victim of the crash.

Meanwhile, the driver implicated in the crash was scheduled to make a first appearance Thursday morning on suspicion of vehicular homicide. However, prosecutors said suspect Sarengaw Ham’s appearance was postponed until Friday, so a Micronesian translator can accompany him.

According to paperwork filed in Clark County Superior Court, deputies responded to the crash about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday at the 20700 block of Northeast Risto Road. They found a 1997 Ford Crown Victoria had hit a tree on the south side of the road.

Benjamin, the passenger in the car, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A drug recognition expert evaluated Ham, 28, at the hospital, where he was being treated, and “determined that Ham was under the influence of alcohol and also, possibly, marijuana,” according to a probable cause affidavit signed by Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu.

Deputies also obtained a legal blood draw from Ham; results at a crime lab are pending.

A sheriff’s deputy also found an opened 12-pack box of Budweiser beer behind the driver’s seat, according to Vu’s affidavit.

Ham, whose address was not listed in court documents, is being held in the Clark County Jail.