A 35-year-old Oak Harbor man facing a vehicular homicide charge is wanted on a $100,000 warrant after he failed to appear at a court hearing last week.
The Island County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information on Jeromy Ladwig’s whereabouts to call the ICOM dispatch center at 360-679-9567 or email tips@co.island.wa.us.
Ladwig is accused of causing a May 2 crash on North Whidbey that killed Keesha Harden, an 18-year-old Coupeville resident. A toxicology report from the Washington State Patrol’s crime lab showed that he had methamphetamine in his system at the time, according to court documents.
Prosecutors charged Ladwig in Island County Superior Court Aug. 4 with “all alternatives” of vehicular homicide.
Under the law, there are three “prongs” of the vehicular homicide charge. A driver who caused the deadly accident is guilty of vehicular homicide if he or she was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a drug; in a reckless manner; or with disregard for the safety of others.
Ladwig appeared in Island County Superior Court after the fatal accident. He was injured in the crash and was strapped to a gurney during the hearing. The deputy prosecutor asked the judge to set bail, but the defense attorney argued that he should be released to live with his father because his injuries would prevent him from fleeing.
Judge Vickie Churchill agreed with the defense attorney and released Ladwig on his personal recognizance. Ladwig, however, didn’t appear at an Aug. 15 hearing.
A trooper with the Washington State Patrol investigated the collision. According to the report, Ladwig, Harden and Randon Koepke, 32, were in his 2001 Ford Mustang in the parking lot of Joseph Whidbey Park on North Whidbey about 4:15 a.m.
Ladwig accelerated quickly, causing the Mustang to fishtail, and went through a stop sign at the park’s exit without stopping. He continued on to West Beach Road at a high rate of speed, according to the trooper’s report.
The Mustang was struck by an eastbound 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup driven by Nathan Dee, 26, of Oak Harbor.
Harden, the front seat passenger, suffered a broken hip as well as head and internal injuries. She died during surgery at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the report states.
Dee was transported to Whidbey General Hospital by a family member; he was treated and released. Koepke was treated for knee and foot injuries and released from the hospital.
Ladwig suffered a broken clavicle, multiple broken ribs and a head injury, the trooper wrote.
A deputy at the scene found a broken glass pipe and a plastic bag of suspected methamphetamine in a backpack belonging to Koepke, the report states. Ladwig told a trooper that he took some “hydrocoxin” prior to the crash, the trooper wrote.
