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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Plea Bargain Would Give Man 3 Years For Fatal Wreck

William Miller Staff Writer

The girls wanted Bradley Roadruck to buy them cigarettes. He did much, much more.

The 25-year-old Mead man supplied them with beer and marijuana, then crashed his car while racing around a curve on Day-Mount Spokane Road.

Fourteen-year-old Nicole Oman was thrown from the rolling car the night of April 1. Two days later, she died from massive head injuries.

Roadruck and his other passengers - Donovan Rongey, 15, of Mead and Courtney Hargrave, 13, of Spokane - were injured.

Now the driver is facing a three-year prison term for vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.

Roadruck, who has no prior record of serious offenses, pleaded guilty Thursday in Superior Court. Sentencing is set for Nov. 29.

Under the plea bargain, Deputy Prosecutor Dianne Dougherty dismissed additional charges accusing Roadruck of providing drugs and alcohol to minors.

Oman’s friends and family members are outraged over Roadruck’s apparent eagerness to corrupt the youths - and gamble with their lives.

After the accident, his blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.15 percent. He later admitted to smoking marijuana that night while driving the teenagers, authorities said.

“He took a life - he should be getting a life prison term,” said Oman’s mother, Lynette Smilden.

Smilden was in court Thursday clutching a bouquet of flowers and a framed picture of her daughter.

She and other parents vowed to push state legislators to toughen vehicular homicide penalties.

Out of jail on bail, Roadruck refused to comment Thursday.

He was a stranger to the girls, authorities said. They were leaving a baby-sitting job at 4 p.m. that day and headed to Rongey’s house on foot.

Roadruck drove up and stopped, and the girls asked if he’d buy them cigarettes. He obliged, taking the girls and Rongey, whom he knew, to a store on U.S. Highway 2.

Roadruck didn’t stop at cigarettes, though. He also bought a six-pack and 20-ounce bottle of beer, then passed it around the car. Later, he stopped to get some marijuana and offered that to his new friends, too, authorities said.

By 9 p.m., his driving was erratic enough to concern Rongey, who asked if he was high. “Yeah, I’m toasted,” Roadruck said.

Moments later, he lost control of the speeding car. The car left the road, hit an embankment and rolled.

No one in the car wore a seat belt.

, DataTimes