A 23-year-old Kent man faces charges of vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment after reportedly consuming beer and then driving a car an estimated 100 mph that crashed and killed his passenger and friend.
King County prosecutors charged Ranveer Singh on Thursday in the death of Gurpreet Gosal, 21, of Kent. Gosal died after the single-car crash at about 7:46 p.m. Monday in the 31800 block of Kent-Black Diamond Road Southeast in unincorporated Auburn. Singh is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 11 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
Prosecutors alleged that Singh and Gosal went rafting with friends at Flaming Geyser State Park in Auburn where Singh consumed alcohol, according to charging papers. Gosal needed to go home so the group left at about 7:30 p.m. About 5 miles from the park, on a clear, dry night, Singh drove his white 2007 BMW 328i, a sport sedan, northbound along the Kent-Black Diamond Road along a gentle, uphill grade on a straight piece of highway.
The road at that section has one lane in each direction and no passing designated with a double yellow center line. The posted speed is 45 mph.
Singh was speeding an estimated 100-plus mph, according to a witness. Gosal was in the front passenger seat. Singh passed a car traveling the speed limit and had to take drastic action to return to his travel lane due to an oncoming vehicle, according to charging documents.
The BMW slid off the road to the right traveling against the guardrail for several feet before the driver over-corrected to the left. He slid across the entire road into the other-side guardrail, then went airborne over the guardrail and tumbled down an embankment before slamming passenger side into a large tree. Gosal died at the scene from multiple injuries to his body and head.
Singh climbed out of the car with a bleeding head injury. He told King County Sheriff’s Office deputies he had one beer two hours earlier. He claimed he was driving 60 to 70 mph to get around a slow car.
A drug recognition expert officer arrived at the scene and noted signs of impairment by Singh. He noted his eyes were droopy and bloodshot; his face had a dazed and confused expression and his demeanor had an angry-like tone with the odor of intoxicants coming from his breath. The officer obtained a search warrant for a blood draw. The toxicology results are pending.
Singh told a deputy that, “I (screwed) up. I should not have been speeding.”
Crime scene investigators noted that tire marks were in excess of 350 feet leading up to the damaged west guardrail, where the car went down the embankment. The BMW lost its front bumper assembly, a wheel assembly and a headlight after flying over the guardrail and hitting the ground.
Singh has no criminal history. But on May 11, he was stopped and cited for speeding 16 mph over the limit, according to charging papers, which didn’t indicate where that incident occurred. He later admitted to an amended citation of inattentive driving.
Deputies arrested Singh after the Monday accident. He was booked into the county jail in Kent at 2:07 a.m. Tuesday and released at 7:19 p.m. on July 27 after posting bail, according to jail records. Bail was set at $40,000.
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