Sheriff requests felony charge in case of injured woman

The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office has formally requested a felony charge in the case of a Washington State University student who was found unconscious along Pullman-Albion Road in November. An investigation has developed evidence implicating the woman’s boyfriend at the time, Sheriff Brett Myers said in a news release. The sheriff’s office is requesting a charge of failure to report an injury accident in a hit and run against Richard C. Pasma, 24. The charge is a class C felony, which carries a maximum sentence of five years, a fine of $10,000 or both. Myers said that he expects the prosecuting attorney’s office to seek an exceptional sentence in the case if Pasma is convicted. A passerby found Kristen Grindley about 1:40 a.m. on Nov. 11 lying in a pool of blood along the road north of Pullman. She was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center for her initial treatment for multiple fractures. She spent two months in recovery before returning in January to her parents’ home in a Seattle-area suburb.