Left: Sarah Clasen in court (via KOMO). Right: Clasen (Washington State Police).
An off-duty Washington state trooper, accused of fatally striking a man while driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit, is now facing homicide charges six months after the incident.
As reported by Law&Crime, 35-year-old Sarah Clasen allegedly hit and killed 20-year-old Jhoser Vega Sanchez in March. At the time of the crash, Clasen’s blood alcohol level registered at 0.17, which is significantly above the legal limit, reports a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.
She was charged with vehicular homicide on Thursday, court documents show.
The affidavit details that Clasen was captured on surveillance video leaving a bar called Moon Palace shortly before 7:30 p.m. She was seen getting into her car, a 2024 Kia, in Richland, Washington, a city located 30 miles north of the Oregon border.
Within minutes, at around 7:30 p.m., she “picked up a pizza from Domino”s Pizza,” the affidavit said.
While driving, it is alleged that Clasen failed to yield the right of way to Vega Sanchez when attempting a left turn from State Route 240 onto Village Parkway. This resulted in her striking Vega Sanchez with her car. Although Clasen’s exact speed at the time is unknown, the affidavit mentioned that evidence from the scene indicated the motorcyclist’s speed was up to 54 miles per hour before he began braking in a 55 mile per hour zone.
Local CBS affiliate KREM reported that Clasen told police she was traveling at around 20 miles per hour.
A witness allegedly said she got out of the car “without any sense of urgency, and she appeared to be dazed and confused.”
“Witnesses at the scene stated they thought Sarah attempted to flee after the collision with the motorcyclist,” according to the affidavit. “Those on the scene noted that Sarah’s reaction was not typical of what they would have expected from an off-duty officer involved in a crash.”
The affidavit further noted that Clasen exhibited signs of intoxication, including slurred speech and trailing off without completing her sentences, while her statements were described as disorganized and incoherent.
Law&Crime obtained body camera footage of the crash.
The off-duty law enforcement officer allegedly “showed no empathy while on scene and she laughed casually while discussing the dire condition Vega Sanchez was in,” the affidavit said.
Clasen reportedly told investigators that she thought Vega Sanchez was traveling toward her in a car with one headlight out and that “as she made the turn, she felt the impact of the motorcycle hitting her vehicle.”
She “refused” to submit to a field sobriety test, the document said, although she later was compelled to provide a blood test after police got a warrant.
Officers on the scene noted that “her speech was slurred and her eyes were watery,” and that she smelled of alcohol. She allegedly gave inconsistent responses to questions and “took a significant amount of time to complete” a written statement about the collision that, the affidavit noted, contained multiple errors and misspellings.
Washington records show that Clasen has also been sued for wrongful death by the victim’s family.
Under Washington law, Clasen faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted. According to the docket, Clasen has an arraignment scheduled for Sept. 24.
