Rep. Ormsby admits drinking, crashing car in Olympia

Melissa Luck by Melissa Luck

An elected official from Spokane in the Washington House of Representatives admitted drinking and crashing his car in Olympia Saturday night.

A report from the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office says Rep. Timm Ormsby crashed his Jeep into a yard around 5:30 Saturday evening. Records say Ormsby’s vehicle left the road and crossed over a ditch/culvert. “The impact ‘popped’ the vehicle up out of the culvert/ditch and caused it to go airborne and ultimately began to roll in the air and land on its driver’s side and stop on the top,” according to the incident report.

The investigating deputy reported smelling a “heavy odor of alcohol” coming from the vehicle. Ormsby told the deputy that he was turning onto the road when his wife sent him a text message; he said the message distracted him, which caused him to swerve and crash. The report said, “he said the next thing he knew, he was upside down.”

According to the deputy, Ormsby said he had “two beers” and that he “drank them at work… he said they were working on the state budget and he had taken a break and drank somewhere near the old brewery.”

The report said there was a “heavy odor of alcohol” coming from Ormsby, that his eyes were bloodshot and droopy, and that his speech was slurred.

Ormsby agreed to take voluntary field sobriety tests. In those tests, the deputy reports Ormsby repeatedly lost his balance during a one-leg test. The deputy said he also had problems with a “walk and turn” test, stumbling offline.

Ormsby agreed to a portable breath test where his blood alcohol content was .110. Washington’s legal limit for driving is .08.

Upon his arrest, the deputy asked Ormsby for more information about the afternoon’s activities. He said he was drinking at Pints Barn. “He again told me that he only drank two 16 oz beers.” The deputy said his blood alcohol level wouldn’t be that high if he only drank two beers. At that time, Ormsby admitted drinking two 12 oz beers around 1:00 pm before heading to work.

“It’s unclear if he ever actually went to his place of employment or if he was ‘working’ from the bar,” the deputy wrote. “He did have some budget paperwork in the jeep for work.”

He was cited for DUI.

Tuesday afternoon, Rep. Ormsby issued the following statement:

“I made a very poor choice this weekend, and I want to apologize to my constituents, colleagues, friends and family. I have faith in our justice system and will abide by whatever consequences I receive. Right now, I’m focused on my duties as a legislator: Drafting a state operating budget and serving the people I represent.”

Rep. Ormsby us a Democrat serving the 3rd District. He was first elected to the legislature in 2003.

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