A man who crashed his car into a ditch off of Interstate 5 in Chehalis while intoxicated early Sunday morning is facing felony charges after he allegedly assaulted a Washington State Patrol trooper who arrested him for DUI and damaged a patrol vehicle.
The crash was reported as a single-vehicle crash into a ditch just north of milepost 60 on northbound I-5 just after 2:10 a.m. on March 17, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
When a Washington State Patrol trooper arrived at the scene, he observed “a slow moving vehicle with a large amount of smoke/steam” emanating from it driving northbound on I-5 near milepost 61. The vehicle soon broke down and was “revving its engine with its left wheels on the fog line, still partially blocking the roadway” when the trooper approached, according to court documents.
The driver, identified as Joshua Alan Mashburn, 24, of Port Orchard, reportedly had an unopened can of beer in his lap and displayed signs of intoxication. A breathalyzer test done at 2:44 a.m. on March 17 reportedly showed Mashburn had a blood alcohol content of .228, more than double the legal limit of .08.
While waiting inside the patrol vehicle for a tow truck to tow Mashburn’s vehicle, “Mashburn’s attitude dramatically changed and he became extremely upset,” according to court documents. He allegedly attempted to kick the passenger side window out of the patrol vehicle, succeeding in “bending (the) door away from (the) patrol vehicle,” putting the vehicle out of service until it is repaired.
Mashburn is also accused of kicking the trooper and of threatening to kill the trooper and the trooper’s family. He reportedly had to be restrained inside the patrol vehicle and at the hospital when he was taken in for a blood draw.
Mashburn was booked into the Lewis County Jail shortly before 6:45 a.m. on Sunday. He was charged Monday with one count each of DUI, third-degree assault and second-degree malicious mischief.
Bail is set at $50,000. Arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, March 21.
