Crime

Man asks for light sentence for friend who disfigured him in drunken Pasco wreck

Jury box in the historic courtroom at the Franklin County Courthouse in Pasco.
Jury box in the historic courtroom at the Franklin County Courthouse in Pasco. Tri-City Herald

A Pasco teen was left in critical condition a year ago after his friend skidded the length of a football field and slammed into tree.

Even after suffering what attorneys described as horrendous injuries that left him permanently disfigured, he didn’t want his friend serve a lengthy jail sentence.

Dylan Villa De Leon Urrutia, 19, will serve six months in jail after pleading guilty to vehicular assault after a drunken crash.

“Nothing I can say can make any more impact than this young man hurting a dear friend,” Judge Jackie Shea Brown said during his sentencing hearing earlier this week.

Urrutia, who didn’t have any previous felony convictions, faced between three and nine months in jail after the June 2, 2024 crash.

Prosecutors and his defense attorney Tim Dickerson asked for the six-month sentence.

Deputy Prosecutor Joseph Faurholt explained that the now 19-year-old victim didn’t want to see his friend get any jail time, but the prosecution felt some amount of time in jail was needed.

Dickerson called the case difficult saying that the crash resulted “disfiguring injuries,” but the man supported Urrutia.

“My client has not been delaying taking responsibility,” he said. “I want to do everything I can to stand him up on his two feet when he’s released. ... He’s just a good man. ... It’s a rough way to start adulthood.”

Serious crash

Urrutia was driving an Infiniti G35 recklessly as he headed south on Heritage Boulevard. He lost control of the car, crossed the center lane and skidded along the curb before slamming into the passenger side where his friend was sitting, court documents said.

The passenger suffered a “catastrophic brain injury,” court documents said.

Urrutia’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice Washington’s legal limit of 0.08 percent, said the documents. Two breath tests allegedly showed he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 and 0.16 percent.

Police said Villa De Leon Urrutia also smelled of alcohol at the crash scene.

CP
Cameron Probert
Tri-City Herald
Cameron Probert covers breaking news for the Tri-City Herald, where he tries to answer reader questions about why police officers and firefighters are in your neighborhood. He studied communications at Washington State University.https://mycheckout.tri-cityherald.com/subscribe?ofrgp_id=394&g2i_or_o=Event&g2i_or_p=Reporter&cid=news_cta_0.99-1mo-15.99-on-article_202404
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