Magnesium Road car crash claims woman, 42

A 42-year-old Spokane woman riding in the rear of a sport coupe was killed Thursday night when its speeding driver lost control and crashed into a tree on Magnesium Road on Spokane’s North Side. The name of the woman who died shortly after arriving at a local hospital was not released pending results of an autopsy today, said Spokane sheriff’s Detective Dave Thornburg. Witnesses told sheriff’s investigators that the driver of the 1994 Mazda MX6 was seen speeding on Magnesium Road shortly before the 11 p.m. crash at a pair of curves on Magnesium between Crestline and Market streets. The driver, identified as Lyle Eutsler, 26, was taken to a local hospital where he was in serious condition today with a collapsed lung, Thornburg said. He is expected to survive. A 21-year-old woman in the front passenger seat suffered minor injuries. Investigators learned that Eutsler and the two passengers had been at a birthday party earlier and that Eutsler had consumed alcohol prior to the crash. The driver of the Mazda had passed another vehicle on Magnesium at a high rate of speed just before the crash, detectives said. Eutsler was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide. Results of a blood sample taken from Eutsler will take six to eight weeks to process, Thornburg said. The Mazda was seized as evidence. A formal charge is pending, he said.