Assessor's blood-alcohol level was three times legal limit, State Patrol says

King County Assessor Scott Noble, under investigation for drunken driving and vehicular assault, had a blood-alcohol level of .22 — nearly three times the state's legal limit — after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 5, according to a State Patrol report.

The collision sent Noble and two others to the hospital.

Shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 18, Noble, 58, was driving north on I-5 in Auburn when he pulled over to the shoulder, made a U-turn and headed south in the northbound lanes, the State Patrol said. His 2004 Toyota Highlander collided head-on with a northbound Jeep Liberty, the Patrol said.

Trooper Eric Purcell, after arriving at the crash scene, "observed that Noble had red and watery eyes" and noticed a "strong, obvious odor" of alcohol, according to the report.

Purcell asked Noble how much he had to drink, according to the report, and Noble replied, "I don't know how much I had to drink, I had too much."

Purcell asked Noble what he had been drinking, and Noble answered "red wine," the report said.

The Washington State Patrol Toxicology Lab reported that Noble's blood-alcohol level was .22 at the time of the collision. The state's legal limit is .08.

Noble's attorney, John W. Wolfe, said today he had not had an opportunity to study the report from the State Patrol, and declined to discuss the allegations against Noble.

After The Seattle Times and other media received the reports of Noble's today, Wolfe said he was "shocked" the information was released.

Noble was injured, as was the driver of the Liberty, Leslie Workman, 26, of Oak Harbor, and her passenger, Lyndsey Jones, 24, of Seattle. All were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Noble suffered the most serious injuries and spent weeks in the hospital, Trooper Cliff Pratt said.

Witnesses told troopers that Noble was speeding and weaving in and out of lanes before making the U-turn, Pratt said.

"We had a lot of witnesses who saw him pull over to the right shoulder and do a quick U-turn," Pratt said. "The State Patrol detectives advised him he was under arrest for suspicion of two counts, DUI and vehicular assault."

The crash occurred near the onramp to Highway 18.

Pratt said Noble's name didn't immediately register with troopers because his driver's license listed his legal name, "Russell S. Noble." The name was included in a media memo the Patrol issued shortly after the accident, but the assessor's involvement only came to light after media inquiries Tuesday.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office confirmed it had been notified of the accident but has turned the case over to the state Attorney General's Office to avoid a conflict of interest.

"We felt we had a conflict because our civil division provides legal advice to King County government, and that, of course, includes the King County Assessor's Office," said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg.

Janelle Guthrie, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said her office received the case Thursday and is reviewing possible charges of drunken driving and vehicular assault.

Noble's chief deputy, Rich Medved, said this morning the assessor has been working from home. "Operations are going on absolutely as normal. Scott's involved on a daily basis. He's still making all the primary decisions," Medved said.

Medved, who runs the office in Noble's absence, declined to say how long Noble was in the hospital. "He was not absent that long. The reports I've heard of his absence were exaggerated."

Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said Noble "spent several weeks at Harborview receiving care," but said she could not legally discuss the nature of his injuries or the date he left the hospital.

Attempts to reach Noble by phone were unsuccessful, and there was no answer at his Seattle home Tuesday night or Wednesday. However, his attorney, Wolfe, issued a statement confirming that Noble was involved in a traffic accident last month. "Since that time he has been recovering from injuries resulting from the accident. He is aware that the Washington State Patrol has investigated the accident," the statement read.

Wolfe could not be reached Tuesday for additional comment. Workman, the driver of the other vehicle, said she and Jones were heading to Jones' Seattle home after a night out when the accident happened. She said her 2005 Liberty was destroyed in the head-on crash.

"We're lucky to be alive," said Workman, adding that both women suffered "a couple of broken bones."

The Prosecuting Attorney's Office said it didn't announce that the assessor was under investigation because a decision had not been made on possible charges.

"We don't announce when cases are referred until we make a decision on whether that case is chargeable or not," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff for the office. "In this case, we never got to that point because we immediately realized there was a conflict of interest."

Noble, a Democrat, was first elected King County assessor in 1992 and is one of the county's longest-serving elected officials. He was elected to his fifth term in November 2007 when he defeated Jim Nobles, a supervisor at the Dutch Shisler Sobering Center, the county's detox unit.

Noble is the second elected King County official in two years to come under investigation for alleged drunken driving. Republican Councilmember Jane Hague was arrested in June 2007 after a sheriff's deputy reported her car being driven erratically on Highway 520. Hague, re-elected that November, was sentenced last year to six months' probation.

Jennifer Sullivan: 360-236-8267 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com

Times news researcher Gene Balk and reporter Keith Ervin contributed to this report.