The driver charged with vehicular homicide related to a recent Hansville crash had previously been charged with hit-and-run, court records show.
Sydnee Nicole Olson was charged with vehicular homicide and vehicular assault on Tuesday Aug. 28, for her involvement in a crash which took the life of Joseph Careaga and hospitalized another motorist. Kitsap County Sheriff’s officers estimated Olson had been traveling between 120 and 123 mph at the time of the crash. According to Kitsap County District Court documents, the June crash was not the first instance of Olson behaving recklessly behind the wheel.
In February 2017, Olson was involved in a misdemeanor hit-and-run altercation wherein she followed her ex-boyfriend around Silverdale, often at a high rate of speed. According to a Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office report, the incident followed a verbal argument between Olson and Hulett at Gordon Fields.
In the report, one witness describes watching Olson’s vehicle blocking another after driving aggressively and entering a parking lot at a high rate of speed. The witness described Olson’s vehicle as being “the aggressor.”
Later, when confronted by police, Olson admitted to having become overhwelmed with the need to speak with the boyfriend after a restraining order was placed between the two following an alleged instance of domestic violence, which resulted in the boyfriend’s arrest. Olson also admitted in the report that she “was driving way too fast as she chased [him].”
Olson later entered into a pretrial diversion agreement on July 13, 2017, for the charge of misdemeanor hit-and-run. In December, Olson completed an eight-hour anger management program through Action Counseling. Conditional to her diversion agreement was a stipulation that Olson not be charged with any criminal law violations until the commencement of the agreement in December 31, 2025.
Olson is set to appear in court on Sept. 17 for a motion to revoke the pretrial diversion agreement.
— Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. Nick can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com
