PORT ANGELES — A 48-year-old man was charged Thursday with three counts of vehicular homicide in connection with a car collision earlier this month that killed three Port Angeles men.
Michael John Jones of Port Angeles is accused of being under the influence of methadone and a number of other prescription drugs and marijuana when his station wagon crossed the centerline on U.S. Highway 101 near Deer Park Cinema on Aug. 3.
Killed in the collision were Ian Clayton Rolley, 45; his son, Jeremy Clayton Rolley, 21; and Jeremy’s friend, Jonathan Jeffrey “J.J.” Brewer, 21.
Trooper Scott Harter, a spokesman for Washington State Patrol, said Jones had a prescription for methadone, a powerful narcotic painkiller generally used to wean heroin addicts.
$350,000 bail set
Jones, appearing in street clothes and bound by handcuffs and shackles, answered Clallam County Superior Court Judge George Wood with one-word answers.
Prosecutors asked for $350,000 cash bail, which Wood approved.
“Three people died as a result of the defendant’s driving,” said Deputy Prosecutor Carol Case.
She also noted that Jones’ wife and 8-year-old son were riding in the car with him that day.
Case said that Jones told investigators after the wreck that he had used methadone that day and Valium and marijuana the night before.
