Man suspected of causing string of crashes requests a court-appointed attorney
By Paris Achen
Published: January 2, 2015, 4:00pm
Share:
Joshua Frahm appears Friday in Clark County Superior Court for arraignment on vehicular homicide charges; it was postponed until Tuesday.
A Vancouver man accused of causing a sequence of vehicle crashes that mortally injured a Camas man in December on Interstate 205 will not be arraigned on charges until Tuesday.
Joshua C. Frahm’s arraignment in Clark County Superior Court was first scheduled for Wednesday and then delayed until Friday in order to give him more time to retain an attorney. On Friday, Frahm told Judge Gregory Gonzales that he couldn’t afford to hire an attorney.
Gonzales agreed to appoint Vancouver lawyer Jeff Barrar to defend Frahm. Barrar was not available in the courtroom, so Gonzales rescheduled the arraignment for Tuesday.
“Without Mr. Barrar, we cannot proceed further with your arraignment, so your arraignment has been set over,” Gonzales said.
Frahm is charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, hit-and-run injury and false reporting.
Rich Irvine, 63, died Dec. 19 from injuries he sustained when he stopped on the interstate on Dec. 7 to help the victim of a hit-and-run crash. Irvine was then struck by another vehicle.
Clark County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu added a charge of vehicular homicide against Frahm on Dec. 22.
On the morning of Dec. 7, Irvine pulled his vehicle over to the right shoulder of northbound I-205 near Burton Road, got out of the vehicle and crossed the highway to help a Battle Ground man whose Honda CRV had been rear-ended by a Ford F-150 pickup. The pickup’s driver, who had reportedly been driving erratically before the crash, fled the scene. Though Frahm later reported his truck as being stolen, investigators later identified him as the motorist.
While Irvine was on the phone with 911, a Honda Odyssey minivan driven by Fredy Delacruz-Moreno, 41, of Seattle hit the passenger side of the CRV, which was blocking part of the highway. The impact thrust the CRV into Irvine.
Delacruz-Moreno is not facing any charges in the crash, Vu said.
The driver of the CRV, Steven Klase of Battle Ground, was treated at the hospital and released.
Morning Briefing Newsletter
Get a rundown of the latest local and regional news every Mon-Fri morning.
Support local journalism
Your tax-deductible donation to The Columbian’s Community Funded Journalism program will contribute to better local reporting on key issues, including homelessness, housing, transportation and the environment. Reporters will focus on narrative, investigative and data-driven storytelling.
Local journalism needs your help. It’s an essential part of a healthy community and a healthy democracy.
