One driver died and another was injured in a two-car collision at the intersection of Avondale Road and Northeast Union Hill Road early last Saturday morning.
Robert Malsch, 21, of Lynnwood was charged on Wednesday in King County Superior Court with vehicular homicide, hit-and-run felony and reckless driving. On Monday, court set his bail at $100,000, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney Office. Malsch’s arraignment is scheduled for March 18 at the Seattle courthouse.
On Monday on its media information line, the King County Medical Examiner’s office identified the deceased man as 30-year-old Michael Ey. He died at the scene.
According to Redmond Police Department (RPD) Cmdr. Shari Francois, Redmond police and fire crews responded to the collision reported by a passerby at approximately 1:16 a.m. on Saturday.
As police officers arrived, Malsch was seen running from one of the vehicles involved in the rear-end collision, during which both vehicles — Malsch’s red 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit and Ey’s white 2010 Honda Fit — had exited State Route 520, said RPD Lt. Julie Beard. An RPD K-9 team tracked Malsch a short distance away, and court documents state that after Malsch was located, one officer “noted a faint odor of intoxicants on Malsch’s breath and another noted he had physical signs consistent with having consumed intoxicants.”
Beard said Malsch was traveling at a high speed and rear-ended Ey, whose vehicle was stopped at a traffic light off SR 520 and Avondale.
The Honda Fit had severe damage from the collision after spinning off the roadway, rolling over and striking a cement sign, according to court documents and Francois’ release.
According to court documents, a witness driver estimated that Malsch was driving at “100-plus mph” on SR 520 — which has a posted 60-mph speed limit — and nearly hit his vehicle prior to the collision, which took place in a 40-mph zone. It is not clear how fast Malsch was driving at the time of the accident.
Malsch was the only occupant in his vehicle, which came to rest in the roadway. Court documents state that “Malsch was found in the driver’s seat by the witness who reported he was ‘frantically’ trying to start the car and later fled on foot when officers arrived.”
Court documents state that after the collision, Malsch “never offered to help the victim driver or to provide his information as required by law after being involved in a collision resulting in the death of another driver.”
Malsch was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for non-life-threatening injuries and was placed under arrest and booked into the King County Jail, according to court documents and the RPD press release and follow-up emails.
Malsch took two blood tests, one of which was sent to the Washington State Toxicology laboratory and one that revealed his blood-alcohol level to be approximately three times the legal limit of .08, court documents state.
If he’s released on bail, the state requests that Malsch not use or possess alcohol, marijuana or non-prescribed drugs, not enter any business where alcohol or marijuana is the primary commodity for sale, not drive without a valid license and insurance, have an ignition interlock device set at .02 installed and have no moving violations.
Malsch has no known criminal conviction history and “he appears to be a flight risk given his inability to provide verifiable information to Court Services,” documents state.
