The driver in an August single-vehicle crash that seriously injured a passenger in his car is now facing criminal charges.
Dominique W. Hallstrom, 20, of Battle Ground is charged with vehicular assault and reckless driving stemming from the Aug. 8 crash in the 14400 block of Northeast Salmon Creek Street, according to court records.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the scene at about 3:45 p.m. and found that a 1991 BMW sedan had struck a utility pole on the north side of the street. The BMW sustained heavy damage to the passenger’s side door, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Hallstrom told deputies he had been driving too fast and was trying to pass another vehicle when he had to abort the passing attempt and brake sharply. As he was braking, he lost control, he said, and the car slid off the road and hit the pole. Hallstrom estimated his speed at 60 mph. The posted speed in that area is 40 mph, the affidavit said.
His passenger, Brock Hendrickson, had to be extricated from the vehicle. Hendrickson suffered a partially collapsed lung and was hospitalized, according to court documents. He is not cooperating with the police investigation and doesn’t want to press charges against Hallstrom, court records said.
A witness, identified as Dawn Livermore, was driving the vehicle in front of Hallstrom. She told deputies she was driving west on Salmon Creek when one vehicle passed her at high speed in the curves, according to the affidavit. She estimated that car’s speed at about 80 mph.
The BMW then came up behind her at high speed and attempted to pass her, she said, but was unable to do so because of an oncoming vehicle in the eastbound lane. Livermore said she saw the BMW veer back into the westbound lane, leave the road and crash into the utility pole, court records said.
The driver of the oncoming vehicle, Robert Pierce, gave a similar account to investigators, according to the affidavit.
Detectives later learned that Hallstrom was traveling with another vehicle. The driver of that vehicle was identified in documents as Jason Sarkinen. The two allegedly drive recklessly in that area on their way to a coffee stand in Hazel Dell, court records said.
Officers said it’s a game between the two to see how fast they can drive and who will get there first, according to the affidavit.
