Bail reduced in crash case

SANDPOINT — Bail has been reduced for a Spokane, Wash., man charged in connection with a fiery crash which claimed the life of one woman and seriously injured another.

Senior District Judge James Michaud ruled on Thursday that William David Deardorff’s $500,000 was inappropriate, according to court documents. However, Michaud declined a defense request that it be set at $75,000.

Michaud ultimately set Deardorff’s bail at $300,000. Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Jim Frazier III opposed a reduction in bail, records show.

Deardorff, 53, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and aggravated drunken driving following the Dec. 3, 2008, crash on U.S. Highway 95 in Careywood.

Idaho State Police said Deardorff was southbound when he veered into northbound traffic and crashed his pickup truck in a Jeep Cherokee driven by Crystal Bertolucci. Bertolucci, 31, suffered serious injuries and her front-seat passenger, Kimberlee Dingman, 44, was fatally injured.

Deardorff pleaded not guilty earlier this week and a jury trial in 1st District Court is planned for May.