Whatcom man sentenced for vehicular assault and DUI following 2021 injury crash
A Whatcom County man will spend several months in jail for a May 2021 crash that severely injured a passenger in the car he was driving.
Toby William Solomon, 30, was sentenced June 15 in Whatcom County Superior Court to three months in jail with a year of probation. Solomon pleaded guilty the same day to vehicular assault and DUI, court records show.
As part of his sentencing, Solomon can’t consume alcohol, will have his license suspended for 90 days and will be required to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and comply with any recommended treatment.
Solomon was arrested May 4, 2021 after the green 1999 Honda Accord he was driving crashed. The crash, which happened around 7:20 p.m., occurred on Marine Drive near the intersection of Ferndale Road, just west of the Nooksack River, according to previous reporting by The Bellingham Herald.
Solomon was driving west on Marine Drive at a high rate of speed. He made an illegal pass to the left and lost control of the car, which left the roadway, struck a ditch and rolled before coming to rest on its top on the west side of Ferndale Road.
Solomon’s 35-year-old passenger, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham for injuries he sustained in the crash. The passenger sustained around 10 rib fractures, a spinal fracture, a clavicle fracture and additional internal trauma, according to court records.
Solomon, who was not wearing a seatbelt, had attempted to leave the scene with a cousin, but ultimately stayed and was examined by medical professionals on scene, court records state.
During an interview with a Washington State Patrol trooper, Solomon told the trooper he was driving the vehicle but that it didn’t belong to him. Solomon told the trooper that he “drank too much and I just want to go home,” court records state.
The trooper eventually arrested Solomon and booked him into the Whatcom County Jail.
