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Man Killed In His Second Car Accident In 3 Years

November 1, 2005

A Redmond man was killed in a head-on collision that happened just east of Redmond on Thursday night. The Washington State Patrol has identified the man as Tatsuya Amase.

Amase, 32, was killed in the accident at about 7:15 p.m. in the 22800 block of Highway 202, the Redmond-Fall City Road, the Patrol reported.

According to witnesses, Amase was driving at speeds ranging somewhere from 80 to 100 mph at the time. He was also recklessly driving past long lines of vehicles in no-passing zones.

According to troopers, Amase was driving a 2005 Nissan Sentra headed east when it veered across the center line and made contact with a 1986 Honda Civic headed in the opposite direction and being driven by Steven Tachell, 59, of Carnation.

Tachell was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle but reportedly had not suffered any life-threatening injuries, the Patrol reported.

The accident occurred about a block west of Redmond Fire Station 15, said Lt. Thomas Langton. Firefighters were within earshot of the accident and they were able to be on the scene immediately.

When firefighters arrived, they found the Nissan flipped over and Amase trapped under the car. Amase was not wearing a safety belt and the impact from the crash threw him from the car, the Patrol reported.

The Nissan finally came to a stop against a fence at Alcott Elementary School at 4213 228th Ave. N.E., said the Patrol.

Three years ago, Amase was also involved in a collision on Interstate 5 in Tukwila. The aftermath of that accident was the filing of several civil lawsuits against Amase by insurance companies and a Tacoma man who was a victim in the crash.

The accusations brought against him included Amase's insurance company, who said he 'recklessly crossed two lanes of traffic,' as well as charges that Amase 'intentionally caused the motor-vehicle accident in a suicide attempt.'

According to one of the lawsuits, Amase confessed to trying to cause the accident in order to commit suicide. After he caused the accident and was unsuccessful in his plan, he even tried to flee from the state troopers.

All the charges that he was facing as a result of the first accident were eventually compiled into one and a case schedule was released indicating the consolidated lawsuit was to go to trial October 3rd in King County Superior Court.