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No jail time for driver who was high on meth when he launched off overpass

KIROtv.com, December 23, 2013

TACOMA, Wash. — A hit-and-run driver who launched off an overpass onto Interstate 5 while he was high on meth in April won’t spend any time in jail.

Prosecutors said Brandon Fallis fled after hitting a vehicle at 11th Avenue and Yakima Street in Tacoma.

A patrol officer witnessed the incident and pursued Fallis.

As Fallis approached a freeway overpass, he veered through Department of Transportation fencing at about 35 mph, launched about 60 feet onto southbound I-5, crashed across all lanes and hit three cars, police said.

Fallis and another driver, Jason Cook, were hurt.

Fallis appeared before a judge Monday, charged with attempting to elude a police officer, driving under the influence and hit-and-run.

He told the judge that he had hit rock bottom in April after his wife left him in January and took their 4-month-old son.

A recovering addict, Fallis said he went into depression and relapsed and the crash was the result of a suicide mission.

"I need help. I don't want to let my family down -- I don't want to let anyone down,” said Fallis.

Fallis agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors that will spare him prison time.

Instead, he'll get in-patient drug therapy and two years of close supervision by the Department of Corrections.

He'll also have to pay Cook's medical bills. Cook had whiplash and chipped teeth from the crash.

Prosecutors said the plea deal will help the Department of Corrections monitor Fallis longer than it would be able to with prison time for the crimes.

If Fallis doesn't comply with the supervised treatment, he will complete his sentence in prison.