Local sentenced to four months

Local contractor Kit Roberts pleaded guilty in San Juan County Superior Court to one count of vehicular assault and began serving a four-month jail term, one of the consequences of an evening of drinking with a friend that ended in a tragic accident.

On October 28 Judge Alan Hancock handed down the jail sentence, to be served in San Juan County Jail in Coupeville, and 12 months of community service. A hearing in January will determine what damages Roberts will have to pay Mark Bonstein, also of Point Roberts. According to court documents, police at the scene of a March 2001 accident near Roche Harbor determined Roberts had been behind the wheel of his truck when it left the road, hit a bank and rolled on its side. Roberts suffered minor injuries. Bonstein, who was found under Roberts on the passenger side of the vehicle, suffered major head trauma resulting in permanent injury.

Both men recall drinking beer together that afternoon and evening but neither recall the accident. Roberts had a blood alcohol level of 0.28, well above the legal limit of 0.08.

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