Teen accused in Tacoma crash that killed 16-year-old was going over 100 mph, charges say
Four teens were on their way to a scenic overlook late at night last December in Tacoma when prosecutors say the driver lost control of his vehicle and drove through a power pole in a fiery crash that killed one teen and seriously injured two others.
The driver, Benjamin Crider, 19, is accused of driving under the influence of cannabis and crashing his car with three other teenagers inside.
Crider was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault. He was charged in the death of 16-year-old Hannah Lindemeier of Kent and for injuring Olivia Ross and Spencer Dunn, both of whom were hospitalized for multiple days.
Crider has yet to be arraigned.
According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, Crider was driving his friends to a scenic overlook late Dec. 20, 2020 when he lost control of his vehicle while negotiating a corner on Marine View Drive and tore through a power pole. The car flipped and caught fire.
After the crash, Ross spent four days in the hospital while being treated for four fractures, a right shoulder separation, a torn ACL and a sprained MCL, prosecutors wrote in charging papers. Dunn spent 10 days in the hospital for a head injury, a collapsed lung, bruises to both lungs and a pelvic fracture that required surgery.
Police viewed surveillance video from a nearby marina that appeared to show Crider’s car driving by. Using the video, officers determined Crider was going more than 114 mph about two-tenths of a mile from the crash site.
By analyzing the collision scene, police calculated that Crider’s vehicle was going about 75 mph after striking the power pole.
Blood tests taken the night of the crash found cannabis in Crider’s blood, according to the probable cause statement. Test results found 4.9 +/- 1.3 nanograms per milliliter of THC and 32 nanograms per milliliter of non-psychoactive Carboxy-THC. Crider tested negative for alcohol.
Charging papers gave this account of what happened:
Officers from the Tacoma Police Department responded about 1:10 a.m. Dec. 20, 2020 to a report of a fatality collision in the 4200 block of Marine View Drive.
Police reported that a power pole was sheared in half on the west side of the road. Down an embankment in front of the pole, a vehicle was overturned and on fire.
Two people later identified as Crider and Ross were sitting on the side of the road. According to the probable cause statement, Crider told police he had been driving north and lost control of his vehicle. He told police he felt bad about what happened. Both teenagers were transported to Tacoma General Hospital.
After fire crews extinguished the car fire, a young woman later identified as Lindermeier was found inside the car. She was declared dead at the scene.
North of the car, a young man identified as Dunn was found unconscious on the other side of a chain link fence the car had come to rest against. He was transported to the hospital.
While examining the crash scene, prosecutors wrote, police found a crushed canister and a package for pods used in vape devices with marijuana leaves imprinted on them.
At the hospital, officers talked with Crider. He told police he and his friends stopped at a tobacco shop to buy “vape stuff” before going to the overlook. According to the probable cause statement, Crider denied using any alcohol or drugs in the hours before the collision.
He told police he hadn’t smoked cannabis from the vape pen since the day before the crash.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 1:09 PM.
