DOC Reaches Settlement with Car Crash Victims

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                      April 15, 2008

OLYMPIA – The Department of Corrections (DOC) has agreed to pay $850,000 to the estate of Gloria Daquep, who was killed in a car crash involving an offender under DOC community supervision.

In April 2004, the victim was killed in a head-on collision when Charles W. Roberson III struck her vehicle on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South in Seattle. At the time, Roberson was under supervision by both DOC and King County. He was under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred.

“This was a tragic situation and we are deeply saddened that an innocent person died as a result of this offender’s recklessness,” says DOC Secretary Eldon Vail.

While the offender was in compliance with conditions of his DOC supervision, plaintiffs allege that Roberson was improperly assessed during his intake and should have been supervised at a higher risk level.

Vail said the Department has made many changes to its supervision of offenders since 2004, including a revision of sanction guidelines to use when an offender violates supervision, increased treatment interventions, and requiring home visits by Community Corrections Officers.

Roberson was convicted of vehicular homicide in this case and is serving a nine-year sentence at McNeil Island Corrections Center.

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