Patrick Van Knotts of Poulsbo has been charged with vehicular assault in Kitsap County Superior Court.
He is being held without bail due to a previous vehicular homicide conviction. That case involved speeding, but this more-recent case alleges substance abuse. If convicted the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine.
Probable cause papers show Knotts was driving southbound in a minivan on Highway 305 at Morgan Road on Bainbridge Island around 12:13 a.m. Jan. 30.
He reportedly struck a vehicle in front of him driven by Suzanne Brassel, which pushed her vehicle into oncoming traffic. Brassel’s vehicle was then struck head-on. She had to be extracted by the fire department using a hydraulic prying tool. She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious injuries, police reports say.
Police say there were no skid marks on the highway; they believe Knotts did not brake prior to the collision.
Witnesses say Knotts was seen throwing items over a guardrail down an embankment. Knotts denied throwing items off the road, but officers allegedly found aluminum foil, a spoon and soldering iron, all with brown residue on them, consistent with heroin or fentanyl tablets, a police report says.
Knotts denied any drug or alcohol use, but officers said his eyes were constricted, and he reportedly admitted to previous opioid use.
After obtaining a warrant, Knotts had to give a blood sample at the Bainbridge Island Police Department.
Officers also reportedly found a gun in the car, although Knotts said it’s his girlfriend’s. Police also arrested him on suspicion of DUI and driving with a suspended license, but he wasn’t charged with those crimes.
Previous case
In March of 2017, Knotts was convicted to up to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to killing coworker Christopher Tevault, 28, in November of 2015.
Knotts served his sentence at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton. Prosecutors say Knotts was driving twice the speed limit when his car crashed into a Waste Management garbage truck on NE Sawdust Hill Road.
Public defender Curt W. Schulz said of Knotts’ plea change: “He admitted he could have been driving better and took responsibility.”
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John C. Purves said at the time 15 months was the standard sentencing range.
The collision was captured on video by a camera installed in the Waste Management truck, probable cause papers say. The garbage truck driver, and another coworker of Knotts who was following in another vehicle, estimated Knotts’ speed at 50 mph. The posted speed limit is 25 mph.
Prosecutors say Knotts was heading to the other coworker’s house for lunch when the crash occurred.
Knotts was airlifted to Harborview for treatment of serious injuries.
The victim’s father, John Tevault, wrote to the court: “I will never hear my son call me on the phone, will never feel his hug, or see him grow older. … The number of family members and friends affected by this young man’s actions are too numerous to count.”
