Posted on 11/21/2006 7:50:34 AM PST by Sopater
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/293137_mantrapped21.html
Crash kills son; mom walks home
Woman was drinking before wreck, police say
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
By TRACY JOHNSON
P-I REPORTER
A crash that went undiscovered for hours left a man dead and police puzzled over why his mother -- who'd allegedly been driving -- simply crawled out of the overturned car and walked home.
Debra Whalawitsa, a Snoqualmie city official, soon could face criminal charges for the Sunday-morning accident that threw her son, Calijah, 29, from her Ford Taurus.
Police say Whalawitsa left her son either dead or dying on the bank of the Snoqualmie River, walked a half-mile to her house and didn't go back to the crash site for at least seven hours.
There, police say, she acknowledged she was the driver and had been drinking at a wedding.
"She didn't give us any explanation about why she left the scene," State Patrol Trooper Jeff Merrill said. "She didn't call the police. She didn't call anybody. She just left."
Merrill said he'd never seen a similar situation and called it "absolutely unfathomable -- as a law-enforcement officer and a parent."
Snoqualmie city officials rushed to Whalawitsa's defense. The 16-year city employee, praised as a dedicated administrative-services director and someone with integrity, spent a night in jail before a judge freed her Monday.
Mayor Matt Larson said he believes Whalawitsa was knocked out, awoke to find herself alone in the mangled car and -- perhaps because she was disoriented -- mistakenly concluded her son had gone home himself.
Larson said Whalawitsa was so out of it that she stumbled into the river before making her way up the embankment to the road.
"I don't know that it's fair for anyone to judge her actions without knowing her condition," he said.
Whether Whalawitsa, 49, was hurt was unclear. Both Larson and Whalawitsa's Seattle attorney, David Allen, said they believed she suffered a concussion.
Merrill said police took her to a Snoqualmie-area hospital, where she was examined and released. She then wanted a second opinion, he said, so she was taken to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, where staff also sent her home.
The crash happened sometime between midnight and 3 a.m., but the flipped sedan and man's body near the bottom of the brush-covered embankment were not discovered for hours, Merrill said.
Police began investigating about 8:30 or 9 a.m., found women's clothing and cosmetics in the wreckage and feared that there had been a second victim, who might have been thrown into the river and swept away.
But Whalawitsa showed up about 11 a.m. She told investigators she'd been driving the car, and that she'd been drinking and was taking medication, according to a police report.
Merrill said it appeared that she'd lost control of the car on a curve.
In King County District Court on Monday, Judge Arthur Chapman released Whalawitsa without bail, agreeing with her attorney that she isn't dangerous or likely to leave town.
Reading the preliminary information from a brief police report, Chapman found reason to believe she committed a hit-and-run -- a felony that suggests she didn't summon medical help -- but insufficient evidence of vehicular homicide.
To prove that crime, prosecutors would have to show she was either impaired by alcohol or drugs -- not merely that she had consumed some alcohol -- or driving recklessly when she crashed the car.
Determining whether a driver was intoxicated can be difficult if many hours have passed before the person is arrested.
P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson@seattlepi.com.
© 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Wow! A female Teddy Kennedy!
Sounds like something a Kennedy would do.
"Police say Whalawitsa left her son either dead or dying on the bank of the Snoqualmie River, walked a half-mile to her house and didn't go back to the crash site for at least seven hours. "
Time to elect her to the Senate.
It would seem Ted Kennedy has a sister.
Kewl ... she and Fat Drunk Ted can go for a drive together.
WWTKD?
To prove that crime, prosecutors would have to show she was either impaired by alcohol or drugs...
Determining whether a driver was intoxicated can be difficult if many hours have passed before the person is arrested.
Now (altho late) is the time for AA
If Kennedy were a Republican, reporters would be asking him for his reaction.
There is no statute of limitations for Republicans.
Clearly this woman belongs in the United States Senate.
He's being too generous. Any mother in her right mind would FIRST look for her child. She was home for ten hours and didn't notice he wasn't there? Ten hours and not report an accident? She must have been really plowed and wanted a chance to have everything clear out of her system first.
Because she was channeling Ted Kennedy...?
Prayers for the young man, may he rest in peace.
Yes
We've found the heir to Teddy's throne.
"Mayor Matt Larson said he believes Whalawitsa was knocked out, awoke to find herself alone in the mangled car and -- perhaps because she was disoriented -- mistakenly concluded her son had gone home himself.
"Larson said Whalawitsa was so out of it that she stumbled into the river before making her way up the embankment to the road."
She must've been really drunk to have no clue.
Only if not was she really callous.
Before we jump all over this person, it's a well known fact that people who have been sufficiently traumatized will do some truly weird stuff when it happens. I'll wait for the evidence to come out before saying anything one way or another.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.