By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office’s only full time employee has been let go following her arrest last month for suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.
The chief deputy coroner, Carmen Brunton, was put on administrative leave July 15 after she was stopped because she was weaving on the roadway on Interstate 5 south of Chehalis just before 8 a.m. on her way to work.
She told a sheriff’s deputy she was on numerous prescription medications and had taken Oxycodone about an hour earlier, according to a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
Brunton, a county employee since 1993, was responsible for the day to day operations of the coroner’s office.
Her boss, elected Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson, works only part time as do six other deputy coroners.
Wilson said Brunton’s administrative leave ended at 5 p.m. yesterday.
“At this point, she will not be coming back,” Wilson said yesterday evening, declining to elaborate.
Brunton, a Winlock area resident, declined to comment.
Deputy Jason Mauermann wrote in his report that he responded to a citizen report in Napavine that a Black Expedition was “all over the road.”
When he contacted Brunton near the Labree Road interchange, the deputy wrote, she had very slow speech and heavy, sleepy eyes but he didn’t detect any odor of liquor. When asked, she said she was on numerous prescription medications, including muscle relaxers, heart pills and pain medication, according to Mauermann.
Upon further questioning, she told him she had taken Oxycodone for pain that morning, but not a muscle relaxer, according to Mauermann’s report.
Wilson, who has worked with Brunton since she started there, said to his knowledge, all of Brunton’s medications were legitimately prescribed.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office that morning requested a trooper to come to the scene and take over the investigation to avoid a conflict, because they work closely with Brunton, according to sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Aust. Troopers conducted standard field sobriety tests and took her into custody, according to Mauermann’s report.
Trooper Steve Schatzel, a public information officer for the Washington State Patrol, said troopers are waiting for the results of a blood test screening for drugs. Brunton had not yet been charged by citation in Lewis County District Court as of yesterday.
Brunton has been the chief deputy coroner for the past 10 to 12 years, after working her way up the ranks, Wilson said.
Her duties included managing the office, assisting in death investigations, arranging autopsies and notifying the next of kin when deaths occur that are under the jurisdiction of the coroner’s office.
The office remains staffed Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. by a senior deputy coroner.
Wilson, who has been elected coroner for 28 years, said also, under state law, his office is responsible for collecting any medications they find belonging to the deceased individuals they are responsible for. He said he’s not seen anything breaking the protocol he has set up for safe storage and eventual destruction of the wide variety of drugs they confiscate.
Wilson decided not to run again for coroner and two men are vying for that position in the upcoming election; Mossyrock resident Micheal Hurley and Chehalis resident Warren McLeod.
Wilson indicated his high regard for his longtime employee when he spoke yesterday
“It’s going to be a big loss for the coroner’s office, ’cause she was a valuable asset,” Wilson said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter