Driver in 2021 fatal collision now faces vehicular homicide charge
Defendant has criminal history including lengthy prison term.
Updated
EPHRATA — An East Wenatchee man with an extensive criminal history was booked into the Grant County Jail Thursday, Nov. 5, on suspicion of vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal collision near Moses Lake over five years ago.
Christopher Ray Zufall, 48, is accused of being under the influence of methamphetamine and traveling at a high rate of speed when the 2010 Lincoln SUV he was driving crossed the centerline and slammed head-on into a 2011 Nissan Versa driven by 74-year-old Rosario Ramos Dominguez of Othello.
The collision was reported around 8:20 a.m. on June 13, 2021 on East Frontage Road North near the intersection of Road D-NE. Dominguez was wearing a seat belt but suffered massive trauma and died after being transported to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, according to a report by Grant County sheriff’s deputies.
Zufall, then 43, and a 25-year-old female passenger both received minor injuries and were treated and released from the hospital. Another female passenger in the Lincoln whom Zufall picked up in George fled the accident scene and was never identified by law enforcement, the report stated.
Investigators alleged they found evidence of methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol in the Lincoln and a state lab analysis of blood samples taken from Zufall showed signs of methamphetamine in his system.
Zufall made an initial appearance in Grant County Superior Court Friday afternoon, when he pled not guilty to the vehicular homicide charge. Zufall remains jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail set by Judge Anna Gigliotti, who scheduled a Dec. 16 trial date that will likely be continued.
A warrant for Zufall’s arrest was requested last Thursday, Oct. 29 by county deputy prosecutor Cole Deaver. He noted that Zufall had nine different felony matters in Chelan and Douglas county courts, 32 different instances when he failed to appear for various court hearings, and had recently served a 57-month prison term following separate felony convictions for criminal mischief with a deadly weapon in 2021 and possession of a stolen vehicle in 2022.
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Driver in 2021 fatal collision now faces vehicular homicide charge
Defendant has criminal history including lengthy prison term.
EPHRATA — An East Wenatchee man with an extensive criminal history was booked into the Grant County Jail Thursday, Nov. 5, on suspicion of vehicular homicide in connection with a fatal collision near Moses Lake over five years ago.
Christopher Ray Zufall, 48, is accused of being under the influence of methamphetamine and traveling at a high rate of speed when the 2010 Lincoln SUV he was driving crossed the centerline and slammed head-on into a 2011 Nissan Versa driven by 74-year-old Rosario Ramos Dominguez of Othello.
The collision was reported around 8:20 a.m. on June 13, 2021 on East Frontage Road North near the intersection of Road D-NE. Dominguez was wearing a seat belt but suffered massive trauma and died after being transported to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, according to a report by Grant County sheriff’s deputies.
Zufall, then 43, and a 25-year-old female passenger both received minor injuries and were treated and released from the hospital. Another female passenger in the Lincoln whom Zufall picked up in George fled the accident scene and was never identified by law enforcement, the report stated.
Investigators alleged they found evidence of methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol in the Lincoln and a state lab analysis of blood samples taken from Zufall showed signs of methamphetamine in his system.
Zufall made an initial appearance in Grant County Superior Court Friday afternoon, when he pled not guilty to the vehicular homicide charge. Zufall remains jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail set by Judge Anna Gigliotti, who scheduled a Dec. 16 trial date that will likely be continued.
A warrant for Zufall’s arrest was requested last Thursday, Oct. 29 by county deputy prosecutor Cole Deaver. He noted that Zufall had nine different felony matters in Chelan and Douglas county courts, 32 different instances when he failed to appear for various court hearings, and had recently served a 57-month prison term following separate felony convictions for criminal mischief with a deadly weapon in 2021 and possession of a stolen vehicle in 2022.