Man sentenced for drunken-driving crash in Sumner that killed woman, injured 2 others
A man accused of driving drunk and causing a three-car crash in Sumner that killed a 65-year-old woman has been sentenced.
Michael Munson, 64, was sentenced to 2 years, 10 months in prison for vehicular homicide and DUI vehicular assault Monday in Pierce County Superior Court. That sentence was the high end of the standard sentencing range for such cases.
Toxicology tests show Munson was driving under the influence Jan. 29, 2019, when he crashed into the back of Margo Sabater’s car at 45 mph, throwing her from the vehicle and killing her. Sabater’s husband and two others were injured in the crash.
Munson pleaded guilty Oct. 4 as part of a plea agreement downgrading his vehicular homicide charge from DUI vehicular homicide to a less serious prong of the law.
As part of the plea agreement, Munson agreed to take the high end of his recommended sentence, according to a prosecutor’s statement filed in this case.
The crash occurred just before 6 p.m. on Sumner Tapps Highway East. According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, Sabater was a passenger in a Geo Metro stopped on the highway to make a left turn onto 162nd Avenue East when the car was rear-ended by Munson’s pickup.
The impact sent the Geo Metro into the oncoming lane of traffic, where it collided head-on with another vehicle and then went into a ditch.
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies said the impact broke the axle on Munson’s pickup. They also allegedly found a half-empty bottle of whiskey on the floorboard of his truck.
Munson told deputies he’d had a few beers at a Sumner tavern before getting behind the wheel but that the bottle of liquor was taken from a co-worker caught drinking on the job.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
