A second man has died of injuries sustained in Sunday’s single-car crash on Vancouver’s Southeast Columbia Boulevard.
Benjamin Folk, 25, of Vancouver, died Tuesday, Vancouver police said.
Vancouver police have also identified the passenger who died earlier as Jesse E. Orellano-Leister, 20, of Vancouver.
Ian J. Cole, 20, of Ridgefield, who is accused of driving under the influence at the time of the collision, faces charges Friday of vehicular homicide and hit and run in connection with the deaths. Both victims were passengers in Cole’s 2003 Ford Mustang when the car collided with a telephone pole around 8:43 p.m.
Another passenger, Maxwell Borders, 19, address unknown, was injured. He was treated and released from PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
Folk’s family said he had a severe brain hemorrhage. A family friend said he was taken off life support late Monday.
At his Friday arraignment, Cole is scheduled to be charged with vehicular homicide, hit-and-run death, two counts of hit-and-run injury and DUI. The specific charges may change in light of Folk’s death. Judge Suzan Clark held Cole on $150,000 bail Monday and appointed Vancouver attorney Sean Downs to defend him.
Cole was driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana around 8:43 p.m. while the three passengers were in his vehicle, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court. He was driving recklessly and speeding when he lost control of his car and hit a telephone pole in the 100 block of Southeast Columbia Way, said Deputy Prosecutor Julie Carmena.
Cole is accused of fleeing the accident scene on foot and calling Folk’s fiancee to pick him up.
The Columbian in Monday’s paper incorrectly stated that the driver of the Mustang was killed in the accident.
