Benton County deputy prosecutor was legally drunk when fatal crash killed his family

A Benton County deputy prosecutor was legally drunk when he missed a stop sign on a rural road on the Fourth of July and was broadsided by a pickup truck . He was killed along with his wife and two children.

Tests show that Deputy Prosecutor Brad Bartlett had a blood-alcohol level of 0.082%, Benton County Sheriff Tom Croskrey told the Herald. The legal limit in Washington state is 0.08.

Brad Bartlett, 35, along with his wife Alex, 31, and two daughters, 9-year-old Scarlett and 1-month-old Violet, died in the crash south of Benton City. Their 2-year-old son, Grant, survived with just minor injuries.

They were heading out of town to a small family cabin for the long holiday weekend.

Bartlett was driving a small Mazda SUV south on Travis Road, a rural two-lane road cutting through rolling hills and farmland.

He didn’t stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Sellards Road about 6:30 p.m. and drove into the path of a Ford F-250.

Croskrey previously told the Herald there was no indications that Bartlett tried to brake.

The pickup truck’s driver was treated at Prosser Memorial Hospital for his injuries.

Bartlett’s brother, Jason, started a GoFundMe to help Grant with future education costs. So far, it has raised more than $31,000.

Deputy prosecutor

Brad Bartlett was new to the Tri-Cities, having moved here to take a job in the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office in March.

He previously worked for a private law firm in Seattle, with the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, as well as two years as an assistant U.S. Attorney in New Mexico and two years as a prosecutor for the state of New Mexico.