A 42-year-old man who struck and killed a pedestrian on a sidewalk in Puyallup before crashing his pickup into a drug store while under the influence of drugs or alcohol was sentenced Monday to six-and-a-half years in prison.
Kyle Lynn Sandstrom pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for the Feb. 20 collision that killed 37-year-old Quoc Truong Nguyen of Puyallup.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stanley Rumbaugh sentenced Sandstrom to 78 months, the low end of the standard sentencing range. The punishment was in line with what prosecutors agreed to recommend. According to court records, Sandstrom will have to obtain a substance-abuse evaluation and complete any recommended treatment.
In his guilty plea statement entered Aug. 1, Sandstrom admitted to driving "while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs." His blood was drawn following his arrest, but the results of toxicology testing was not available in court records.
The incident occurred at a Walgreens, 4404 S. Meridian, south of the South Hill Mall. According to court records, surveillance video from a nearby car wash captured Sandstrom driving a Ford F150 north on Meridian at high speed when he went onto a sidewalk on the east side of the road.
Nguyen was walking north on the sidewalk, according to the Puyallup Police Department. He was struck from behind and thrown into a flower bed, where Central Pierce Fire & Rescue personnel found him unconscious and severely injured. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
After hitting Nguyen, Sandstrom drove across all lanes of travel on Meridian and crashed into the Walgreens on the other side of the street. Police said there was minimal damage to the business.
Officers were dispatched to the scene at about 9:19 a.m. They spoke with Sandstrom while he sat in an ambulance, and he agreed to perform field sobriety tests. Sandstrom was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for a blood draw before he was booked into Pierce County Jail.
At sentencing Monday afternoon, a victim advocate read an impact statement to the judge on behalf of one of the victim's relatives, according to court records. Sandstrom also spoke, reportedly expressing remorse for his actions and thanking the state for facilitating a quick resolution in the case.
Rumbaugh said he appreciated the defendant's statements, according to court records, but he said it didn't change the harm that was caused by the defendant's decision to drive while impaired.
Sandstrom has previously been convicted of seven felonies in Pierce County between 1998 and 2004, including convictions for residential burglary, first-degree theft and first-degree malicious mischief.
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