Motorcyclist wasn't speeding when hit and killed by off-duty WSP trooper, police say

Yahoo

04-04-2025

A Richland motorcyclist was driving less than the speed limit last month when an off-duty Washington State Patrol trooper suspected of driving drunk turned into his lane, killing him, according to recently released police reports.
The speed was calculated by Richland Officer Eric Edwards using measurements he said show Jhoser Vega Sanchez was going about 2 mph below the posted speed limit of 55 mph.
Vega Sanchez, 20, died after crashing into Trooper Sarah Clasen's SUV on Saturday, March 1.
They didn't know each other but lived about a half mile apart in a Horn Rapids subdivision off Highway 240 in north Richland.
The Lamb Weston employee had taken the 2002 Suzuki TL1000 motorcycle out for a ride, after asking his parents if he could go for a drive on the bike he'd recently purchased.
Officer Edwards said that his conservative calculations showed Vega Sanchez's maximum speed was 53 mph.
The calculation flies in the face of what Clasen, 35, told Richland investigators after the crash.
The information was included in about 400 pages of police reports released by the city of Richland to the Tri-City Herald under the state's Public Records Act.
The records show Clasen and her husband, a retired state trooper, had spent four hours at a Richland bar on Saturday before she stopped to pick up a pizza, drove about 4 miles to Horn Rapids and turned into her subdivision about 7:40 p.m., according to the reports.
She told police she saw the headlight in the oncoming eastbound lane but thought it was a car with a light out and believed she had plenty of time to turn safely.
'Sarah told me that the motorcyclist was definitely going faster than the posted speed limit,' wrote Officer Steve Heid, who grew suspicious of her account compared to the evidence at the scene.
Clasen eventually refused to answer questions about whether she had been drinking and to take any tests at the scene. Six hours later after a judge issued a search warrant to take a blood sample, her blood-alcohol level was 0.17% — more than double the legal limit of 0.08%, said the police reports.
Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell, who is leading the investigation to avoid any local conflicts of interest, said this week that he has yet to decide on charges in the case because is waiting for some additional test results.
Clasen remains on paid administrative leave pending the criminal investigation and an internal WSP investigation.
Vega Sanchez had only recently gotten the motorcycle.
'He was very excited and enthusiastic about his motorcycle,' his mother Yolimar Sanchez-Barbosa told the Tri-City Herald.
The day of the crash, he had worked a full shift at Lamb Weston and returned to the home where he lived with his mother and her boyfriend Ruben Sanchez-Guerra.
Sanchez-Guerra told investigators that he talked to Jhoser about 6 p.m.
'Ruben advised that Jhoser was new to riding motorcycles and mentioned that he typically asked for permission to ride the motorcycle before driving it,' Officer Diego Reyes wrote in his report. 'Jhoser had only driven the motorcycle approximately three to four times since he got it.'
Vega Sanchez told Sanchez-Guerra that he planned to ride the motorcycle around the Horn Rapids neighborhood because the weather was nice enough.
'Prior to this night, the last time Jhoser rode the motorcycle was about a week ago,' Skinner wrote in his report.
Vega Sanchez's friend Ricardo Loeza told the Tri-City Herald, 'It's heartbreaking that his life was cut short, but we want people to remember him for the amazing person he was.'
Richland police Sgt. Shawn Swanson said in his report that Vega Sanchez had no time to avoid the collision.
'Roadway evidence suggests that Vega Sanchez realized this was happening and he applied his brakes causing a skid mark on the ground,' he wrote.
Vega Sanchez moved to the right side of his eastbound lane but Clasen's right front bumper hit the motorcycle and Vega Sanchez was thrown off, losing his helmet.
The bike ended up wedged underneath her Kia Telluride.
Richland Fire Department medics said Vega Sanchez suffered 'numerous life-threatening injuries,' and Clasen in her 911 call said she couldn't find Vega Sanchez's pulse.
The newly released records include statements from three witnesses to the crash. One asked to remain anonymous and the others were a mother and daughter who saw the crash as they were headed home from a birthday party.
They were pulling into a turn lane on the highway when the daughter spotted what she thought was an explosion. They then pulled up to the scene.
At first, Clasen was on the phone inside her car and didn't get out until two men stopped and got out of their vehicle, the daughter told Heid and Richland Officer Kevon Skinner on March 6.
'(The daughter) described Sarah (Clasen) as being confused and not knowing what to do,' said the report. '(Clasen) seemed nervous and didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. ... (Sarah) was walking back and forth not really knowing what to do.'
The mother said Clasen seemed more like a scared teen than a seasoned police officer. She said the off-duty trooper didn't immediately get out of her SUV to start doing CPR. She estimated it took 30 seconds to a minute before Clasen started CPR.
When Heid asked if Clasen's behavior matched what they would expect from a police officer, they both said no.
The mother told officers, 'I'm certainly not an expert, but, ... , sorry fellas, my expectation of y'all is very high. You know? It did not seem like she knew what to do,' the report said.
Clasen has been with the Washington State Patrol for 13 years and was this region's public information officer.
Another witness spoke with officers on March 11 on the condition of anonymity. She explained she was in a car with her husband heading out of the Tri-Cities toward Mattawa on Highway 240 when she saw the two vehicles collide.
'According to (the witness) it appeared as though the female driver of the vehicle was trying to leave and would not initially exit her vehicle,' Officer Anthony Santana wrote.
'She explained that it looked like the vehicle had shut off and then turned back on, then moved forward about a meter, but could not move any further because the motorcycle was stuck underneath.'
Since it looked like the Kia was trying to leave, the woman photographed the license plate. She did not turn over the pictures, said the report.
Another driver stopped and approached the Kia, and that's when Clasen got out and began performing CPR, said investigators.