RICHLAND, Wash. – Body cam footage from the Richland Police Department shows the arrest of Washington State Patrol Trooper Sarah Clasen following a deadly crash on March 1. The incident took the life of 20-year-old Jhoser Sanchez.
Richland police responded to the scene at the intersection of State Route 240 and Village Parkway at 7:39 p.m. The footage, obtained by NonStop Local, begins at 9:16 p.m. when Officer Steven Heid arrives.
Upon arrival, Officer Heid asked Clasen to describe the events leading to the crash.
“I saw what I thought was a car with one headlight out. Just that’s where the reflective sign is that way. And so I was slowing in the turn lane and saw him there and I was like, I got enough time. I turn and as soon as I turn, just felt the boom,” Clasen stated.
Clasen mentioned she had made the same turn numerous times and believed she had enough time. Officer Heid asked Clasen if she would take a field sobriety test or a preliminary breath test.
Clasen declined, saying, “I don’t want to do any tests based on the circumstances.”
Officer Heid provided Clasen with a written statement sheet, which she agreed to fill out. He then muted his audio for approximately 17 minutes, as well as several other times throughout the four and a half hours of footage. According to 422.10 of the Richland Police Department, is not uncommon for officers to do so. At 9:49 p.m., Officer Heid discussed his suspicions with fellow officers.
“She got a couple of misspelled words on here. She wrote, she signed. She’s she, she estimated the distance between the guy on the motorcycle and her to be 100 feet which that’s way more than that’s like 500 feet. But she said she was almost through her turn when clearly she was at the very beginning of her turn right. Her eyes are a little bit glassy. A little bit, but could be. But we got to err on the side of caution. I do not have a great sense of smell, but I think I smelled a little bit of odor of alcohol, I know for me to say. And then I told her, I’m like, hey, we just want to rule out impairment. And by you not doing it, I’m like, I’m not going to ask you again, but I’m like, We can’t rule it out,” he said.
At 9:54 p.m., Officer Heid arrested Clasen for vehicular homicide and took her to the Richland Police Department to await a search warrant for a blood alcohol test. Clasen was held until 12:08 a.m. until Officer Heid let her now that there was a warrant for a blood alcohol test.
Clasen was then taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center for medical clearance, arriving at 12:16 a.m.
A doctor checked Clasen for potential injuries and cleared her at 12:32 a.m., stating, “I am not too worried that the rest of the exam is okay. It’s not like there’s any major injuries, you know. From my standpoint I don’t think you will be needing additional imaging or anything like that. So something would be whatever they need to, get started.”
Clasen’s blood was drawn at 1:16 a.m., four hours and 37 minutes after the crash. She was then transported to Benton County Jail, arriving at 1:41 a.m.
Clasen inquired about witnesses at the scene, asking, “Did any of the… Because like, say, when I was doing CPR, there were several other witnesses around after the collision…did any of {indistinct audio}.
Clasen was transferred to an officer at the jail at 1:45 a.m.
“So she was involved with the motor vehicle crash, so. But she was cleared at the jail. She also is a trooper. So whatever accommodations you guys can make for that,” the Officer Heid noted to the officer at the jail.
Clasen has not been officially charged since being released from a 72-hour hold on March 3. Her attorney stated, “I consider the investigation to be active and ongoing. A charging decision will be made when the investigation is complete and a thorough review has been conducted by my office.”
