Washington House candidate Krista Perez faces a DUI charge with a refusal enhancement after allegedly causing a chain-reaction crash that damaged five vehicles in Tacoma.
Pierce County prosecutors filed the charge following her Aug. 11 arrest, according to The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red. The refusal allegation concerns a breath test at police headquarters, separate from the voluntary roadside sobriety tests she declined.
Perez, a Democrat, finished first in the August primary for the 29th Legislative District’s Position 1 seat. She will face incumbent Rep. Melanie Morgan, also a Democrat, in November after both advanced under Washington’s top-two primary system.
Perez’s 2019 Chevrolet Silverado allegedly struck a parked car on South G Street shortly after midnight Aug. 11, setting off the series of collisions, according to Tacoma Police.
Body camera footage obtained by the outlet shows Perez initially denying that she had been involved in an accident. When an officer asked what happened, she said she did not know and had never been in an accident before.
Perez told the officer she was coming from a friend’s business on Tacoma Avenue South and had consumed one glass of wine. Asked about the glass’s size, she suggested contacting the business.
When asked to rate her sobriety from zero to 10, with zero meaning completely sober, Perez first said she wanted to go home. When asked again, she rated herself a four.
The officer repeatedly explained that field sobriety tests were voluntary. Perez said she was confused and wanted to go home before ultimately declining them.
The officer then arrested her on suspicion of DUI. Footage from the patrol car shows her crying and praying for help, according to Seattle Red.
The refusal enhancement stems from what police said happened afterward at headquarters. Perez did not provide a usable breath sample in three attempts before the machine timed out, according to an arrest report cited by the outlet.
Roadside sobriety exercises and post-arrest breath testing are distinct. Washington’s implied-consent law addresses breath testing after an arrest and requires officers to explain the consequences of refusing.
A DUI charge alone does not bar Perez from serving in the Legislature. She is scheduled for arraignment Friday morning, Sept. 18, in Tacoma Municipal Court.
