Pierce County prosecutors last week charged Kyle Joseph Podolak, 22, of Enumclaw, with vehicular homicide and vehiclar assault in the April 22 accident in Orting that killed his passenger, 21-year-old Brandon Duprie, and severely injured a second passenger.
According to charging papers dated Thursday, August 2, Duprie had been ejected out of the passenger side front window of a full-sized white pickup truck that Podolak was driving on State Route 162 when it sped through a curve, overcorrected and then left the road before rolling to a stop in a ditch.
Washington State Patrol detectives investigating the accident indicate that Podolak was traveling at between 60 mph and 64 mph in an area near Orville Road East with a suggested speed of 25 mph due to the curve. After it left the road, the truck then rolled, went through a six-foot tall chain link fence and "then struck a power pole while it was airborne, sideways with the driver's side down."
Duprie's body was found in brush and brambles about 50 feet away from where the truck had come to rest.
The truck was discovered by a couple heading home on State Route 162 at about 1:25 a.m. The second passenger and Podolak were able to crawl out of the vehicle; that passenger suffered injuries to his spine that required that a metal plate and screws be installed to correct the fractures. Podolak sustained a fractured left arm.
The Orting police officer who was first to arrive on the scene reported noticing "a strong odor of intoxicants about his [Podolak] person." Blood tests performed after Podolak had been arrested for vehicular homicide showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.16. In Washington state, the legal limit for adults ages 21 and over is 0.08.
Podolak's arraignment is scheduled for Friday, August 17 at 9 a.m. in Pierce County Superior Court.
