$1 million bail set for man accused in fatal I-405 crash
SEATTLE -- Bail was set at $1 million for a 27-year-old Woodinville man suspected of the fiery three-vehicle crash on Interstate 405 in Bellevue that killed one person and injured two others Thursday night.
Prosecutors said Samuel C. Sampson told police he had taken heroin, meth and methadone and was traveling in excess of 150 mph when the crash occurred on I-405 near Main Street in Bellevue. The crash killed a 22-year-old Federal Way man, Ian Beckford, the driver of another vehicle that rolled several times and burned. Two other people were injured.
A statement of probable cause released on Monday indicates prosecutors plan to charge Sampson with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
A defense attorney, in arguing for lower bail, said Sampson was not a flight risk because he works at Microsoft in Redmond and lives with his wife in Woodinville, but the prosecution said Sampson had resigned from Microsoft two weeks ago and had only moved to this area from New York in April.