A Battle Ground man has been arrested in connection with a vehicle collision in rural Battle Ground on Wednesday that critically injured a 9-year-old girl and her mother.The girl’s sibling also was injured.
Shane M. Turner, 31, of Battle Ground is accused of being intoxicated at the time of the crash. He appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Thursday on suspicion of three counts of vehicular assault.
Authorities said Wednesday that the critically injured girl is 7, but on Thursday confirmed that she is 9.
Judge Scott Collier held Turner in lieu of $25,000 bail. Turner posted bond on Thursday but may not be released until today, after a judge sets release conditions, according to the Clark County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Sept. 25.
Court documents indicate that Turner was traveling westbound on Northeast 219th Street in a Chevrolet pickup when he approached a stop sign and failed to complete a stop or yield the right of way to a minivan traveling southbound on Northeast 182nd Avenue. The front of his pickup crashed into the center of the minivan’s driver’s side just before 6:45 p.m. The minivan’s driver, Anna Konovalchik, 44, and her two children, ages 9 and 13, were injured.
The 9-year-old girl was transported by Life Flight helicopter to a local hospital and is now at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, according to the sheriff’s office. She remained in critical condition Thursday afternoon. Her mother also was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Fred Neiman. The 13-year-old boy’s condition was not available, Neiman said.
Turner was not reported injured. According to court documents, he smelled of alcohol; his eyes were droopy, bloodshot and watery; and three beer bottles and a bottle of whiskey were found inside his pickup. The whiskey bottle’s contents were spilled on the floor, on the side of the driver’s side door and on the front of Turner’s shirt, court documents say. He also failed a standard field sobriety test, the documents say.
Turner allegedly admitted to sheriff’s detectives that he had consumed two beers prior to the collision.
Deputy Prosecutor Anna Klein requested that bail be set at $50,000, but Collier agreed to set it at $25,000 after Turner spoke.
“I have a family who very much would like me to come home, work and put food on the table,” Turner said.
Collier said Turner doesn’t qualify for a court-appointed attorney due to his income, so Turner will need to hire one.
