After shots of tequila, man caused fatal Lakewood crash as he chased truck, charges say
A 22-year-old man was charged Monday with driving under the influence and causing a three-vehicle crash last week that killed two people in Lakewood.
Jaquan Price is facing six criminal counts related to the crash, which occurred Thursday night near the intersection of Gravelly Lake Drive SW and Wildaire Road SW, Pierce County Superior Court records show.
Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf at a Monday arraignment to two counts of vehicular homicide, three counts of vehicular assault and one count of being in unlawful possession of a firearm. Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille ordered him jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.
Price allegedly told authorities that he had consumed “three to three and a half” tequila shots at a local park before getting behind the wheel of a Toyota RAV4. Price, who was traveling with three friends who had also been with him at the park, purportedly began chasing a Dodge pickup at high speeds after the truck cut him off on Nyanza Road SW, according to the charging document.
The SUV T-boned a Chevy Cavalier turning onto northbound Gravelly Lake Drive from Wildaire Road SW, and both vehicles smashed into a utility pole on different sides of the road, authorities said, citing a witness interview and the police investigation.
The Cavalier’s driver and a passenger in the RAV4 were pronounced dead at the scene. A woman who had been trapped in the back of the Cavalier was taken to a local hospital with a brain bleed and spinal injury, according to the charging document.
Price and two others inside the RAV4 were taken to a hospital, the charging document said, noting one occupant suffered a broken arm and another had facial injuries.
A third vehicle — a Dodge Ram truck — was side-swiped by the Cavalier, causing extensive right-side damage to the pickup, according to the charging document. Charging papers didn’t explicitly say whether it was the same truck that had been chased and didn’t note any injuries to the driver or his three children.
Price is a convicted felon and has had nine warrants “issued for cases in his criminal history,” the charging document said. He did not have a driver’s license. Authorities said they obtained a warrant to take a sample of his blood, and toxicology results were pending.
This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 2:58 PM.
