Prosser man pleads innocent to vehicular homicide

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

A Prosser man accused of being intoxicated when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 82 and killed another motorist posted $100,000 bail Thursday and was released from the Benton County jail.

Edward Eusebio Castilleja, 49, faces a Jan. 4 vehicular homicide trial after pleading innocent Thursday in Benton County Superior Court.

Prosecutors allege Castilleja had been drinking in Grandview early Nov. 7 before he got on I-82 to head home and went eastbound in the westbound lanes of the interstate.

Angelica Barajas, 20, of Grandview, was killed when Castilleja's truck slammed into her car. Her 11-year-old cousin, Stephanie Vega, was treated at Sunnyside Community Hospital for a broken leg, officials said.

Defense attorney Scott Johnson requested bail be reduced to $50,000 and asked that his client be allowed to sign up for a special home-monitoring bracelet that also would detect alcohol.

Johnson told Judge Craig Matheson the GPS/alcohol system will keep track of Castilleja and "provide extra security."

Prosecutor Andy Miller opposed the request. Castilleja has a prior DUI offense that was handled with a deferred prosecution and another DUI conviction, Miller said, adding, "It's apparent ... he has an alcohol problem."

Miller said he was concerned Castilleja would try to claim his home monitoring time as credit toward his sentence. But he said if Castilleja wanted to waive his right to count it toward his confinement time, it'd be a different story.

Judge Matheson, however, denied the request and left bail at $100,000.

KENNEWICK MAN TOLD HE CAN'T HAVE FURLOUGH

A 46-year-old Kennewick man sentenced to prison last week after pleading guilty to two counts of stalking asked to be let out of jail for the day Saturday.

Michael Dean Shaffer said he needed the day to secure his belongings before he's sent to the state Department of Corrections to serve his time.

He was sentenced last week in Benton County Superior Court to one year and two months in prison.

Shaffer picked up a second stalking charge in September after a woman he dated for three weeks in the summer said he continued to go on her property and repeatedly sent her text messages, even after she got an anti-harassment order against him.

At the time, Shaffer was out on bail for a stalking charge involving another woman.

Judge Craig Matheson denied the furlough request after reading the charging documents in the cases, saying "it's too great a risk."

ACCUSED THIEF COULD FACE ADDITIONAL CHARGES

A Kennewick man faces a Jan. 11 trial for allegedly stealing items from a house under construction in Kennewick.

Johnny D. Allstead, 46, was charged with second-degree burglary in Benton County Superior Court. His bail remained set at $1,000 and prosecutors said additional charges are pending against him.

Allstead was arrested Nov. 6 by Kennewick police after an alert neighbor spotted him going into a home under construction in the 1700 block of West 51st Street, officials said.

He was found in his truck and investigators were later able to determine that a tool found in his truck was stolen from the home site a week earlier, but the burglary hadn't been reported, police said.

Detectives then searched Allstead's Finley home and recovered several truckloads of stolen property, including a commercial miter saw, table saw and tile-cutting equipment.

Lawnmowers and a computer stolen weeks earlier from a Kennewick Wal-Mart also were reportedly found during the search.

-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com

tool name

Friday, Nov. 13, 2009

Prosser man pleads innocent to vehicular homicide

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer