After pleading guilty Sept. 4 to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, a Jefferson County man was taken into custody to serve three years and five months in prison.

Taylour John Eldridge, 25, teared up while apologizing to the family of Gregory Weston Bolling of Port Townsend, who died Jan. 19, 2015 at age 23 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle two days after a single-vehicle collision caused by drunken driving.

“I'm so sorry,” Eldridge said Sept. 4 in Jefferson County Superior Court. “I can't take back what I did. I wish I could. I am so sorry, Michelle and Doug [Bolling]. All I can say is I'm sorry.”

The sentence was issued by Stephen Gillard, an appointed court commissioner. Superior Court Judge Keith Harper had recused himself because he knew families involved.

COLLISION

Eldridge was driving his 2006 Chevrolet pickup eastbound up Eaglemount Hill toward Port Townsend when his vehicle left State Route 20 just past milepost 1 shortly before 1:29 a.m., Jan. 17, going over an embankment, striking a tree and landing on its side, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Bolling, a passenger seated on the two-seat pickup's center console without a seatbelt, suffered a broken neck and a brain hemorrhage, according to an investigation by Washington State Patrol Detective Joi Haner.

Fellow passenger Amelia R. Syska-Patten, 20, of Port Townsend suffered a broken back, according to Haner's report. Eldridge had a broken pelvis.

Both Eldridge and Syska-Patten were wearing seat belts, according to Haner's report.

The group left 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn just before 1 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 17 and went to the Longhouse Market, where video from the market confirmed that Bolling and Eldridge had purchased a six-pack of beer and a bottle of wine before continuing southbound on U.S. Highway 101 toward SR 20, according to Haner's report.

Eldridge's blood-alcohol content at the time of the rollover accident was 0.135, according to Haner's report.

Bolling was a member of the Chimacum High School Class of 2009. Eldridge was in the CHS Class of 2008. The two had more recently worked together in Alaska, and both had intended to return there for the 2015 commercial fishing season.

SENTENCE

Eldridge's guilty plea to the vehicular assault charge means if he is convicted of another DUI, it would automatically be a felony and send him back to prison, said Prosecutor Michael Haas.

“We struggled with this case for some time to get this resolution, and it's not a perfect resolution,” Haas said in court. “We can't bring Gregory back.”

Eldridge is credited for 81 days served on electronic home monitoring toward his 41-month prison sentence, which puts him in the custody of the state Department of Corrections, according to court documents.

Eldridge turns 26 on Sept. 9.

“He's going to have a lot of time to think about this and he will continue to think about this when he gets out of prison,” Eldridge's attorney James A. Doros of Port Hadlock said in court.

Upon his release in 2019, Eldridge is set to serve 18 months in community custody and is expected to do community service in which he would speak to young people about the risks of drunken driving, according to court documents.

Eldridge owes $600 in legal financial fees. Restitution has yet to be determined, but a hearing on the matter is set for Jan. 8, 2016, according to court documents.

STATEMENTS

With tears in their eyes, Bolling's mother and father each spoke in court Sept. 4.

“I know Greg would forgive you, and I too must forgive you,” Michelle West said in court, addressing Eldridge.

“All I know is that I just want you to, in some way, have an understanding of the impact this has had. Not just on Greg, but his family, his friends, his parents – a dad and me, his mom. And with that understanding, that whatever needs to change in your heart and life will change, and that maybe you could even help others learn from your mistake and perhaps even save a life through all of this.”

Doug Bolling described his experience after two law enforcement officers appeared at his door early July 17, saying “You know what that means. It is never good.

“Time to say goodbye?” Bolling said in court. “No, it can't be. He's just beginning life; gotten his own place; making honors grades in college; working to finance his way; becoming an adult.

“And now, here we are. Nothing can bring Greg back. What will recognize and honor his life that was snuffed? Senseless loss. No more impish grin. No wicked humor. No Greg.”

Haas followed those statements with one of his own, describing how he watched a close friend commit the same type of crime 35 years ago at age 19, striking and killing a pedestrian while driving home from a party.

“He went to prison, served his time and did the only thing he could to honor the memory of the person he killed – he got his act together, finished his education and became the most productive member of society he was capable of being,” Haas said. “We can't bring Greg back, so the only thing Mr. Eldridge can do is learn from his poor choices, and honor Greg's life by becoming the most productive member of society Mr. Eldridge is capable of becoming.”