The man accused of causing the crash that killed Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher Gadd in March pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday afternoon.

The Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Raul Benitez-Santana, 32, Friday with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. Gadd, 27, was killed in a crash on March 2 while working DUI patrol on I-5 in Marysville. Gadd was sitting in the driver’s seat of his marked WSP cruiser parked in the grass on the right-side shoulder of the freeway when the deadly crash happened. Another driver was also injured in the three-vehicle crash.

The defense called the crash a tragic accident but argued in court whether there was enough evidence a crime occurred, zeroing in on the fact that Trooper Gadd’s lights were off around the time of the crash and the suspect’s blood alcohol level was below the legal limit.

According to court documents, Benitez-Santana was driving 112 mph and hit the brakes less than a second before the crash occurred, slamming into Gadd's patrol vehicle at 107 mph. Prosecutors say the entire incident was captured on camera from a nearby truck also on the road at the time and witnesses described seeing the suspect driving recklessly.
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