She went to prison for killing a Tri-Cities driver. This time she crashed into a child’s bedroom

A driver suspected of being under the influence when she sped away from police and crashed her SUV into a Kennewick child’s bedroom will not face felony charges.

And despite serving multiple stints in state prison, including 7 1/2 years for killing another driver, she’s not likely to be going back to prison.

In part, that’s because of a recent state Supreme Court ruling on drug possession crimes.

Lori Ann Christensen, 57, has a history of drug problems going back 35 years.

And in a chilling coincidence, the victim in her deadly crash 11 years ago was the uncle of the woman whose apartment she destroyed Friday night.

Christensen was recklessly driving late Friday night when she went 80-plus mph through a stop sign and later crashed into the complex, according to Andrew J. Clark, a Benton County deputy prosecutor.

However, Kennewick police had already terminated the pursuit, so her actions after the chase ended cannot be used to support an eluding charge, Clark told the Herald on Tuesday.

The SUV hit the child’s bedroom so hard it scattered toys and clothing and was wedged so tightly inside that it had to be hoisted out before an injured Christensen could be taken to the hospital. No one was home in the apartment.

The wreck happened exactly two months after Christensen was released from a Washington state prison.

She served a year and a half for four drug convictions in Benton and Franklin counties.

Those two cases include a year of probation that started Feb. 2, with the conditions she not possess or consume alcohol and drugs and that she stay crime-free.

Ruled unconstitutional

Christensen normally would face a revocation hearing before a judge for violating those conditions, with a recommendation by the Washington state Department of Corrections and prosecutors that she go back to prison to serve the rest of her original sentence.

But the underlying crime in both cases — drug possession — was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court in February. It essentially invalidated decades of felony convictions.

“In that ruling, known as the Blake decision, the justices said the tough penalties and stigma from a conviction are a violation of due-process guarantees in situations where an individual’s possession of drugs came from unintentional or passive conduct,” The Seattle Times reported.

Washington lawmakers are considering options for a new drug-possession law before the current legislative session ends April 25.

As for Christensen’s possession convictions, they “are subject to being dismissed upon a motion filed by the defendant,” according to Dave Corkrum, a Franklin County deputy prosecutor.

Once that happens, any issue with her probation would be moot.

Christensen remains hospitalized five days after the Kennewick crash. Authorities say she was flown to Seattle to be treated, but her condition was not available.

GoFundMe started

Kennewick police said an officer tried to make a traffic stop on Christensen’s car Friday night but it sped away. Police confirmed it was the same SUV when it was found inside the Central Park Apartments.

Christensen’s SUV broke through the wall of the single-story complex near South Olympia Street and West Seventh Avenue.

Ariana Guzman lived in the apartment with her 2-year-old son and a roommate. No one was home at the time of the wreck just before 10 p.m.

She has started a GoFundMe campaign to help replace their belongings.

Guzman tearfully told a KNDU reporter this week that her uncle, Orlando Abarca-Rivera, was the victim in Christensen’s vehicular homicide case 11 years ago in Pasco.

Guzman said she no longer feels safe and is traumatized, but is trying to stay strong for her toddler son who lost his Easter gifts in the wreck.

Prosecutor’s decision

Christensen was charged Monday in Benton County District Court with DUI, a gross misdemeanor. She also was cited for failing to stop at a stop sign and driving without insurance.

Police reports were assigned to Clark, the deputy prosecutor, to decide potential felony charges.

“Upon review of the reports, I do not believe there is sufficient evidence of reckless driving while the vehicle was being pursued to be able to prove eluding beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,” Clark wrote in his decision sent to Kennewick police and city prosecutors. A copy of the email was obtained by the Tri-City Herald.

Clark said under state law, prosecutors must show not only that the vehicle failed to stop, but that it was driven “in a reckless manner while attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle.”

He added that while the facts won’t meet the standard for a felony, he was referring it to the Kennewick City Attorney’s Office for reckless driving, which includes the crash, and failing to yield charges, in addition to the DUI.

In 2007, a change in Washington law made DUI a felony if the defendant has a prior conviction for vehicular homicide. That is if the responsible driver was “under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug” when they caused the fatal crash.

Christensen originally was charged in Franklin County Superior Court under the alcohol-related element of the vehicular homicide, but it was reduced by prosecutors to “disregard for the safety of others” in exchange for her guilty plea 1 1/2 years later.

So any current or future charge of DUI against Christensen cannot be elevated to a felony under that exception in the law, Clark explained.

Lengthy drug history

Christensen’s criminal history also includes 10 convictions for possessing and delivering controlled substances, dating to 1986. All of the cases were in Benton and Franklin counties.

In September 2010, Christensen pulled out of the Motel 6 parking lot on Oregon Avenue in Pasco, crossed the double yellow center line and slammed head-on into a car driven by Abarca-Rivera.

The 35-year-old man, who was the only occupant of the car and was on his way to work, died at the scene.

Christensen told law enforcement that morning that she was late for work delivering newspapers for her husband, who was an independent contractor for the Tri-City Herald.

She admitted drinking a couple of beers the night before, but firefighters at the scene reported smelling alcohol on her after the 5:30 a.m. wreck.

At the time, Christensen already was on probation for an earlier conviction.

Following her guilty plea, she was sentenced to 7 1/2 years. She did not serve the full time and was released early with credit for the months she spent in the Franklin County jail and her good behavior in prison.

Then, in March 2016, Christensen was wanted on a Department of Corrections warrant for violating community custody.

Two community corrections officers saw her get into a car and asked to have Pasco police stop her on the warrant.

Officers found a black bag with methamphetamine in the car, as well as a plastic bag with cocaine and five glass pipes with residue, say court documents.

A judge sent Christensen back to prison on a probation violation for the vehicular homicide, along with a one-year sentence for meth possession.

4 arrests in a year

In 2019, she was charged with possessing meth four more times.

Once, Christensen was seen sitting in the driver’s seat of a pickup with a band tied on her forearm and appeared to be about to “shoot up” drugs. She drove off when Pasco police arrived and failed to stop at a stop sign, before pulling over and talking with officers, court documents show.

She was tracked down two months later at a Kennewick coffee shop and tried to drive away but was blocked by the Department of Corrections officers. She admitted having drugs in her vehicle.

Christensen tested positive for meth the following month during a check-in at the Department of Corrections office in Kennewick. Police were called to search her vehicle and found drugs and a scale.

And in October of that year, she was wanted on two warrants when officers saw her leave a Kennewick hotel.

Christensen screamed “no no no” when police told her she was under arrest, threw some bags into her truck and tried to dive into the driver’s seat, but was grabbed by an officer before she could get completely inside, documents said. She admitted having “a quarter ounce of dope” inside a bag.

Christensen was sentenced in January 2020 to 1 1/2 years in prison on the two cases together and got out two months ago.

This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 12:59 PM.