Intoxication part of deadly crash

SANDPOINT - Impairment and excessive speed were contributing factors in a deadly rollover crash that claimed the life of the Seattle University baseball team captain last month.

Idaho State Police said Christian J. Cameron was westbound on U.S. Highway 2 when he went into a broadside counterclockwise slide. The Toyota Camry he was driving went down an embankment on the east side of the highway, struck a chain link fence, overturned and crashed roof-first into a tree.

The crash happened shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 16, near the Mudhole recreation area on the eastern outskirts of Priest River.

State police unequivocally said in a press release that alcohol was not a factor in the crash, but a copy of a trooper's report obtained under Idaho's public records law contradicts that assertion.

Cameron's blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.25, more than three times the legal limit to drive of 0.08, according to the collision report.

Along with impairment and excessive speed, overcorrecting is cited as a contributing circumstance in the crash, the report said.

Christian, a 22-year-old from Auburn, Wash., was returning from a wedding when he swerved off the road to avoid hitting something, The Seattle Times reported following the crash. Christian's coach told the paper that the left-handed pitcher was coming into his own and had a future as a professional ballplayer.

Christian was the fifth person to die on a state highway in Bonner County in 2011. It was the third such crash this year where intoxication was cited as a contributing factor.