For more than three years, a late-night expedition appeared ill-advised and tragic. Now, it’s a criminal case.
Last week, Samuel Hoffer was charged with vehicular homicide by the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office. That development stems from an accident in November 2012 that left Joseph Castro dead in a rural area outside Carbonado.
The story, as was told at the time of the accident, began with Hoffer and Castro heading to the Evans Creek Off-Road Vehicle Park for a little fun. They arrived at about 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2012, and Hoffer was behind the wheel of his 1988 Toyota pickup.
Things turned bad about 10 p.m. when the vehicle slid off a cliff, rolled approximately 100 feet down a rocky hillside and came to rest of its roof. Hoffer then hiked through the darkness until flagging down a passerby who delivered him to the Carbonado fire station the morning of Nov. 8.
This is where the tale from 2012 differs from the story related recently that resulted in the criminal charge.
In 2012, Hoffer explained how he had turned a corner, been startled to find a deer in his path and swerved, eventually sliding off a cliff. After hiking from the ORV park and alerting authorities, a search-and-rescue team located the pickup the following morning. Castro, 23, was dead and was found about 300 feet from the vehicle.
Pierce County authorities suspected that alcohol might have played a role as beer cans, both empty and full, were scattered about the scene. Hoffer said he had consumed just one beer while on the way to picking up Castro and his friend did the rest of the drinking.
Investigators determined Hoffer might have been driving too fast for the road conditions, but no charges were filed.
The tragic tale took a distinct turn in June 2015.
Hoffer had applied with the Muckleshoot Tribe, hoping to land a job as a wildlife officer. As part of the hiring process, he agreed to a polygraph test; during a pre-test interview, questions were asked about the 2012 accident.
The story was different this time around.
Hoffer admitted that he was intoxicated when his truck went over the embankment and rolled down a rocky hillside. The part about a deer in the road had also been a lie, he said.
That admission led to the vehicular homicide charge. Hoffer, now 24, is to be arraigned March 28.
Charges also filed in Enumclaw fatality
Valerie Bellack was arraigned last week, the result of an accident that left one man dead and his wife seriously hurt.
Bellack is charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
It is alleged that Bellack, 56, was intoxicated the night of Nov. 7, 2015, when she slid behind the wheel of her 2007 BMW. According to King County charging documents, she was traveling westbound on state Route 164 at about 11 p.m.
Court papers state, “For no discernible reason, the defendant crossed the centerline.” She drove head-on into a Ford pickup operated by 69-year-old Walter Frick and occupied by his wife, 67-year-old Colleen Frick.
The crash occurred on a straight stretch of pavement near 218th Avenue Southeast. The pickup flipped over a guardrail, coming to rest in a roadside ditch.
Walter Frick died at the scene and his wife sustained numerous, serious injuries.
Bellack also was injured and was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. At the crash site, emergency medical personnel told police Bellack smelled strongly of liquor. In the hours following the crash, law enforcement authorities obtained a blood sample.
