Report: Drugs, speed factored into fatal crash

SANDPOINT — Drug impairment and excessive speed are cited as contributing circumstances in a rollover crash on Spirit Lake Cutoff Road that claimed the life of a juvenile last year, according to an Idaho State Police collision report.

State police said Jose Franco Sosa Jr. was northbound on the cutoff road when he lost control of the 1995 Subaru Legacy he was driving near the Peregrine Road intersection. The collision report said Sosa swerved across the oncoming lane, wound up in the southbound ditch. The mid-size import crossed over a driveway, went airborne and landed back in the ditch. The vehicle went into a broadside slide before tipping over on its driver’s side and rolling, the report said.

A juvenile male seated in the front passenger seat was thrown from the vehicle and died of his injuries, according to state police. The boy, whose age is redacted in the report, was not in safety restraints at the time of the May 15, 2017, crash north of Spirit Lake.

Sosa, a 55-year-old Coeur d’Alene resident at the time of the crash, was not wearing a seatbelt and was taken to Kootenai Health for treatment for incapacitating injuries, the report said. Another juvenile seated in a forward-facing child safety seat suffered non-incapacitating injuries.

The crash occurred at approximately 7:31 p.m. There were daytime lighting conditions and the paved road surface was dry and level, the report said. The crash occurred in a 45-mph speed zone.

The three contributing circumstances to the crash consisted of driving left of center, drug impairment and excessive speed.

A blood test detected the presence of amphetamine/methamphetamine in Sosa’s system, according to the collision report, which was obtained by the Daily Bee under Idaho’s Public Records law.

Sosa is subject to a criminal charge in Bonner County, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository. The case remains filed under seal until Sosa makes an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.