Driver charged in fatal car crash

CLARK FORK - A Clark Fork man is being charged with vehicular manslaughter after a passenger was killed Wednesday in what Idaho State Police are saying was an alcohol-related crash.

Idaho State Police said Zachary B. Palmer, 20, was westbound on River Road at about 1:22 p.m. Wednesday at a high rate of speed in a 1981 Chevy Corvette when the vehicle left the roadway on the north side and went into a ditch before coming back onto the roadway.

Palmer overcorrected and the vehicle went off the roadway on the south side, breaking three trees and rolling onto its top.

Palmer, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the Corvette.

He was taken to Bonner General Hospital, where he was treated and released.

His passenger Tyler J. Pesce, 18, of Hope was pinned in the vehicle and died at the scene, according to an ISP press release.

Roads were bare and dry at the time of the accident. According to ISP, alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Palmer has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and an investigation into the crash is ongoing.