Woman is accused of driving drunk when she knocked out power to 16,000 in Richland
A 29-year-old driver is accused of having more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in her system when she knocked out power to 16,000 in Richland.
Mikinzi Joy Shumate’s blood-alcohol level was 0.25 percent on Sept. 18, when she lost control of her car on Stevens Drive at 11:30 p.m., according to investigators in court documents.
In Washington state the legal limit is 0.08 percent.
Her car cut through a wire supporting a Bonneville Power Administration transmission pole, sending power lines and transformers crashing to the ground, Richland police said at the time.
Benton County prosecutors recently charged Shumate with vehicular assault after she left a her passenger with a broken breastbone.
She’s pleaded innocent to the charges and her trial is set for June 20.
Collision investigators believe Shumate was driving north on Stevens Drive and drove off the road as she turned toward Saint Street.
She then hit an electrical box and launched her car into the air. It flipped and caught fire before finally stopping almost 700 feet from the street.
The intersection is near the Highway 240 bypass in the northern section of Richland.
Witnesses saw Shumate get out of the driver’s side of her car, while her male passenger crawled out of the rear driver’s side window.
Shumate admitted to drinking before the crash and medical records showed she was intoxicated. A blood sample was drawn at the hospital and used to determine how intoxicated she was, said officials.
According to public records, Shumate has previously been found guilty of driving under the influence in 2014 in Franklin County District Court. She also pleaded guilty in 2012 to reckless driving.
Power outage
Vibrations from the crash broke the porcelain insulators that hold the power lines that feed into a substation for the city, Sandi Edgemon, the business services manager with the electric utility told the Tri-City Herald at the time.
That knocked out power north of Lee Boulevard and between the Columbia and Yakima rivers. Crews were able to restore power by 2:45 a.m.
In all, about 16,500 customers lost electricity, the city reported.
It also knocked out power to street lights on Stevens Drive into the next morning.
