Driver suspected in fatal, high-speed crash said he was ‘bored’

A Woodinville man is held on $1 million bail after a high-speed, fatal car crash in Bellevue last week.

State Patrol troopers said the man admitted going as fast as 150 miles per hour before losing control Thursday night on I-405 and causing a fiery crash that killed Riley Beckford, 22, of Federal Way. Beckford was on his way home from a day with friends on Lake Sammamish.

In court Monday, a friend of the accused driver stood up to dispute a police report that stated that the suspect is unemployed. He said his friend works at Microsoft and he told the judge the man, 27, is not a flight risk. Joseph Nwachukwu told the judge that the driver and his wife were arguing right before the accident and that his friend and the other driver were racing. He told the judge his friend’s wife grabbed the steering wheel. However, there’s no mention of that in the police statement.

“He’s distraught,” said Nwachukwu outside court. “He can’t believe how his life changed from having a great job at Microsoft to this, all in one day.”

The document filed in court, called a Superform, is signed by a State Patrol officer. It alleges that the suspect hit his wife in the head and ordered her to unbuckle her seat belt before the crash. In setting bail, the judge ordered that the suspect have no contact with his wife if he’s released.

The report states that the suspect had ingested three drugs before the crash, including meth and heroin. When asked why he was driving so fast, the suspect told an officer he was “bored.”

The King County Prosecuting Attorney is expected to file charges by Wednesday.