A Maple Valley woman has been charged with third degree assault and driving under the influence following an incident near Tahoma High School in October.
Brandee J. Johnson is accused of running over and dragging a deputy while driving drunk, with a blood alcohol level of .21, at about 9:40 p.m. on Oct. 1. Charges were filed Dec. 3 by the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
Johnson was driving “at a high rate of speed” according to charging documents past Tahoma High School, located in the 18000 block of Southeast 240th Street.
Johnson allegedly dragged a deputy who had stopped her “when he reached into her car to turn it off, then ran over his foot as she sped away,” charging papers stated. The incident occurred at the intersection of
Johnson then fled the scene, “at times driving in the oncoming lane of a road congested with cars and pedestrians,” the documents stated.
King County Sheriff’s deputies were directing traffic after the game, occasionally stopping vehicles heading east and west to allow cars to leave the football stadium and head south, according to the charging papers.
A deputy was standing in the road on the center line “when he observed a vehicle traveling eastbound along SE 240th without making an effort to reduce speed or stop.”
In an effort to get the driver’s attention, the deputy shined his flashlight into the vehicle, but both he and another deputy were forced off the road to avoid being hit as “the vehicle blew past” the deputy.
“The vehicle finally reacted and skid to a stop approximately (10) feet beyond” the deputy, the documents stated.
When the officer contacted Johnson, who was alone in the car, she appeared to have “watery blood shot eyes, spoke with a thick tongue and (the deputy) could immediately detect the odor of intoxicants.”
He requested that she put her car in park and she did. Johnson allegedly denied that she did not see the lit traffic direction, people walking on foot from the school, the flashing police lights on two patrol cars parked on the side of the road or any of the deputies who were directing traffic.
According to the charging papers, she did not follow commands to turn the car off and when the deputy reached inside to turn it off “Johnson brushed his hand out of the way” and when the deputy attempted again to turn the car off, “Johnson quickly accelerated without affording (the deputy) the opportunity to pull his arm and shoulder out of the vehicle.”
The deputy was dragged 20 to 30 feet alongside the car and when he broke free his right knee struck the car and then his right foot was run over as Johnson fled.
A member of the Kentlake High football team’s coaching staff witnessed the incident. The coach followed Johnson, who ran several stop signs until deputies were able to stop the car. He stated that he was sure it was the same car because it had the same sticker in the rear window.
Johnson admitted to another deputy that she fled the scene because she “was scared” and that she had drunk about four glasses of wine earlier in the evening. She denied drinking when she was initially stopped by the deputy she is charged with assaulting.
Her blood was drawn at Valley Medical Center and sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for analysis which determined she had a blood alcohol level of .21, while the legal limit is .08.
The deputy who was dragged suffered a minor back injury, a bruised and swollen elbow, shoulder and foot.
The prosecutor’s office requested bail of $10,000.
