Suspected drunk driver charged with hurting his own passenger when he hit a semi truck

A suspected drunk driver left a passenger severely hurt after blowing past a stop sign and straight into a semi truck in south Benton County, say investigators.

Prosecutors have charged Ryan T. Hamilton, 34, with vehicular assault in connection with a Nov. 22 crash on Highway 14.

He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday after being released from the Benton County jail on a $25,000 bond.

Hamilton was driving a Toyota on the rural two-lane highway about 10:30 p.m. that Friday night when he drove past a stop sign outside of Plymouth near the Oregon border, court documents said. His car slammed into the semi at the intersection.

A woman riding with Hamilton suffered a severely broken wrist and lost several teeth.

Hamilton told investigators he was heading to White Salmon, Wash., from the Tri-Cities at the time.

A Washington State Patrol trooper reported smelling alcohol coming from Hamilton and that his speech was slurred, court documents said.

Hamilton denied drinking and refused to do field sobriety tests, court documents said. He was taken to Trios Southridge Hospital where a sample of his blood was taken for testing.

Court documents don’t list the results of the test.