A man accused of driving while drunk, crashing into a power pole in Silver Creek and injuring the passenger in his vehicle on Saturday has been charged with vehicular assault in Lewis County Superior Court.
A deputy with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the collision at about 8 p.m. on March 18, according to documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday. When the deputy arrived, he reportedly saw a power line draped across the roadway in the 400 block of state Route 122, with the associated power pole “completely broken in half,” and found a white Ford pickup on its side in a ditch southwest of the intersection with Larson Road.
Two people were reportedly sitting outside the vehicle when the deputy arrived. One of them, identified as Nathaniel Winnett Cramblit, 27, of Seattle, allegedly confirmed he was the driver and asked the deputy to check on the vehicle’s passenger, who had “a large, approximate 3-inch bleeding laceration” on her forehead.
The passenger was able to keep pressure on her forehead until medics arrived to transport her to a medical facility for further treatment.
When asked about the crash, Cramblit allegedly admitted to having approximately three shots of whiskey prior to driving and stated “he believed his ability to drive was affected by his consumption of alcoholic beverages.”
In the police report cited in Cramblit’s charging documents, the deputy stated, “It is to be noted that Cramblit was respectful and cooperative during my investigation.”
Cramblit reportedly declined a standardized field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test at the scene, but tests completed at the Lewis County Jail just before 11:25 p.m. reportedly showed Cramblit’s blood alcohol content was between .196 and .201.
The legal blood alcohol content limit to drive in Washington state is .08.
Cramblit was formally booked into the Lewis County Jail just before 1:05 a.m. on March 19 after he was medically cleared at a local hospital.
He has since been charged with one count of vehicular assault, which is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
While defense attorney Rachael Tiller asked Judge Joely Yeager to set Cramblit’s bail no higher than $10,000, citing his relatively-dated felony history and support from both his family and the alleged victim in the courtroom during his preliminary hearing on Monday, Yeager granted the prosecutor’s request to set Cramblit’s bail at $25,000.
“As I’ve stated before, I consider these allegations, whether it’s driving under the influence or vehicular assault, especially when it’s driving under the influence combined with assault, to be one of the biggest threats to our community’s safety,” Yeager said Monday, adding that while she recognized the alleged victim was in the courtroom to support Cramblit, “the allegation is that she was injured and really anyone could have been injured based on these allegations.”
Yeager additionally denied Tiller’s request for Cramblit to maintain contact with the alleged victim.
Cramblit’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, March 23.
