A Ridgefield woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of vehicular homicide in connection with an August 2022 rollover crash on Interstate 205 in Vancouver that killed her passenger.
Nora K. Kintz, 50, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on a summons. Judge Robert Lewis placed her on supervised release and ordered she be subject to random urine analyses for the presence of alcohol. Her trial is set for Sept. 3.
Kintz’s defense attorney, Shon Bogar, told the judge Kintz underwent treatment and has not consumed alcohol in the nearly two years since the crash.
Washington State Patrol troopers responded at 8:18 p.m. Aug. 11, 2022, to the single-vehicle crash at Milepost 28 on I-205 near Mill Plain Boulevard. A passenger in the crashed Ford F-150, identified as John G. Ancheta, 62, of Corbett, Ore., was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Troopers identified Kintz as the driver of the pickup. Witnesses provided investigators with dash camera videos, which captured the crash. The footage showed Kintz speeding and weaving in and out of traffic before the crash, court records state.
The footage also showed Kintz rapidly approaching a slower-moving vehicle in the left lane and attempting to move into the middle lane at the same time a vehicle in the right lane also tried to move into the middle lane. Kintz can be seen overcorrecting to avoid crashing into the vehicle before losing control of her pickup. The truck entered the center median and rolled before it came to rest on its wheels, according to the affidavit.
Kintz was injured in the crash, and paramedics treated her at the scene before taking her to an area hospital. Emergency responders told troopers they smelled alcohol coming from Kintz. One paramedic said Kintz admitted to drinking alcohol, but she didn’t say how much, according to court records.
Troopers obtained samples of Kintz’s blood. Toxicology results from those samples showed Kintz had a blood-alcohol content of 0.10. Troopers also obtained Kintz’s medical records, which showed she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.216, court records state. In Washington, a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 is considered evidence of drunken driving.
