West Seattle Blog… | FOLLOW-UP: More than a year after the Alki car crash that went into the water, a suspected speeding, drunk driver is facing charges

(Reader photo, July 16, 2023, 1300 block Alki Avenue)

By Tracy Record
Editor of the West Seattle Blog

A year and three months after a drunken crash that left a woman fighting for her life after bystanders pulled her from her submerged car, we've learned that charges have been filed against the driver accused of hitting her becomes.

During a routine periodic review of online court records, we discovered that the King County Prosecutor's Office has brought three charges against him Angel I. Godoy Cruznow 24 – Assault (a Class B felony), Reckless Driving (a gross misdemeanor) and No Valid Driver's License (a misdemeanor).

This is how the charging document summarizes the allegations:

On Sunday, July 13, 2023, at approximately 5:46 p.m., the defendant, 23-year-old Angel Godoy Cruz, an unlicensed driver with a suspended license, was speeding on Alki Ave SW in a 2011 Infiniti G37 sedan towards the north. Driving at approximately 83 mph in a 25 mph zone along Alki Beach. Alki Ave SW is a one-way street consisting of a northbound lane and a southbound lane, with the lanes separated by a single dashed yellow line. The defendant then drove around a vehicle by driving into the southbound lane and back into the northbound lane.

At the same time, 24-year-old Madison Kelly was driving south in a 2005 Toyota Corolla and turned left from Alki Ave SW into a parking lot. Less than two seconds after her turn, the defendant crashed into Kelly's vehicle at approximately 83 miles per hour, causing the northbound Toyota to flip and plunge into Elliott Bay. Only thanks to the heroic efforts of witnesses, who jumped into the bay to rescue Kelly from her submerged vehicle by breaking a car window with a rock, did she survive the collision. Witnesses then performed CPR on Kelly until paramedics arrived, who transported her unconscious and in critical condition to Harborview, where she suffered from severe traumatic brain injury and internal injuries.

As people gathered to provide Kelly with life-saving measures, the defendant exited his vehicle. A witness confronted the defendant and stated that the defendant would go to prison. According to the witness, the defendant replied, “Why should I go to prison?” To which the witness replied that he may have killed the driver. The defendant then said, “I don’t care,” and got back into his car. Law enforcement then contacted the defendant and detected a strong odor of intoxicants on his person and an open can of IPA beer prominently displayed on the rear floorboard of the vehicle. After being read his Miranda rights, the defendant claimed the beer was from several days earlier and that he had not consumed alcohol that day, but admitted to using marijuana that morning. He admitted driving around the first vehicle because “it was driving slowly” and admitted the speed limit in the area was 25 miles per hour. A search warrant was issued authorizing a blood draw from the defendant to determine his BAC. The toxicology report revealed that the defendant's BAC was 0.011 three hours and 14 minutes after the collision, well above the per se legal limit. …

It is noteworthy that the defendant never had a valid driver's license, but has repeatedly violated traffic safety laws in the past: speeding, no valid operating license (08/31/2022), expired driving license (06/20/2022), license plate expired (02/28/2019), Speed ​​too high for road conditions, driver's license expired, vehicle license plate expired (11/20/2015)

According to the documents, police presented the case to the prosecutor's office last August; The charges were filed four weeks later, on September 20, and a $150,000 bond was requested. However, when Godoy Cruz appeared for arraignment on October 3, Richter said David Keenan set bail at $25,000, with electronic home monitoring a condition, and gave him one week on personal recognizance to post bail. Godoy Cruz must do this and begin electronic home surveillance tomorrow (Thursday, October 10). If he does not do this, the public prosecutor can apply for an arrest warrant. (He had an address in North Seattle at the time of the crash, but has told the court that he now lives in West Seattle. After the crash, he was taken to the hospital for injuries, not jail.)

We asked KCPAO why it took so long to file the case. speaker Casey McNerthney confirmed that they had received it four weeks before filing, 13 months after the crash (we will contact SPD separately); Those four weeks were spent reviewing the evidence, which the office said included many videos. (The court documents indicate this is part of the 83 mph speed determination.)

As for the victim, we have sent inquiries to family/friends several times since the crash to ask how Ms. Kelly is doing, but we have not received a response. Regional television reports said she was released from the hospital and inpatient rehab two months after the accident and returned home.