This news story was updated 12:22 p.m. on Thursday July 7, 2011
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Chehalis high school educator who crashed his vehicle and died two months ago in the Boistfort Valley had a blood alcohol level of .42, an amount lethal to most people, the Washington State Patrol said today.
Trooper Ryan Tanner today called that level – more than five times over the legal limit for driving – really high, one of the highest he’s ever heard of.
William Irvin Peterson Jr., 43, died at the scene of blunt force trauma when he wrecked his Ford Bronco just before 4:20 p.m. on May 4 on the 900 block of Wildwood Road, according to authorities.
The state patrol at the time reported Peterson traveled into a field, striking a fence and then attempted to drive back onto the roadway but flipped the vehicle onto its top where it collided with the road’s embankment.
Peterson was an educational assistant at W.F. West High School, in charge of the students sent to the in-school suspension room, according to Chehalis School District Superintendent Ed Rothlin.
He also was an assistant coach for boys football and basketball, and coached in Rochester Schools, Rothlin said.
Peterson was scheduled to work that day but had called in absent, Rothlin said.
Tanner said the recent return of the blood results close out the investigation.
That much alcohol in a person’s system would be fatal to most people, Tanner said.
Based on his training, except for persons who have built up a high tolerance to alcohol from past drinking behavior, most individuals with that level would not be conscious, let alone breathing, Tanner said.
It was the second W.F. West High School staffer to die in an alcohol-related accident in 15 months.
Teacher Geoffrey J. Gilbert was killed early on February 9 of last year when his speeding motorcycle ran into the rear of truck on Interstate 5 near the 13th Street interchange. Trooper Tanner said alcohol and marijuana were both involved.
Rothlin said it’s the fourth death of a school district employee this year.
They lost a Chehalis Middle School science teacher recently to an illness, and two food service workers to cancer this school year, he said.
“It’s been kind of a rough year for us,” he said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
This is truly sad,… is there a way maybe something went wrong in his system to cause such a high content. He was such a man of integrity.. I am very surprised by this.