Charges filed over deadly crash

SANDPOINT - Charges have been filed against a Rathdrum man accused of accidentally killing a passenger in a rollover crash near Athol last month.

Dustin Willis Harrison is charged with vehicular manslaughter at the misdemeanor level. He faces additional charges of driving without privileges or proof of insurance.

Harrison, 34, is free on his own recognizance while a pretrial conference in the case is pending.

The June 9 crash on U.S. Forest Service Road No. 2561A claimed the life of Damian C. Johnson, a 23-year-old from Coeur d'Alene.

An Idaho State Police report said Harrison was negotiating a right-hand curve when he lost control of his Toyota 4Runner. The sport utility vehicle spun clockwise and hit a dirt berm on the side of the road, causing it to overturn.

Johnson was thrown from the vehicle as it rolled. Johnson died of severe head trauma, the report said.

There was no witness to the crash other than Harrison. Neither Harrison nor Johnson were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, according to ISP.

Harrison initially told Trooper Leslie Lehman that Johnson was driving, the report said. However, blood evidence in the vehicle clearly indicated that Johnson was in the passenger seat at the time of the crash.

Harrison was later confronted about his deception and admitted that he was behind the wheel. He told the trooper he lied about who was driving the vehicle because a group of people had gathered at the scene and one of them had become physically threatening.

Harrison, the report said, feared the man would become violent if he admitted being the driver. Lehman noted in her report that she arrived at the scene to find a group of eight to 10 people who appeared to be "upset and even hostile."

Harrison blamed the crash on the failure of one of the SUV's tires, the report said.