Edmonds Man Charged With Vehicular Homicide in 2020 High Rock Road Crash That Killed Duvall Woman

An Edmonds man has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a December 2020 crash near Monroe that killed a 20-year-old Duvall woman, Sophie Theriault, according to charging papers.

Roman Berkovich, 35, reportedly told police he was driving a BMW with Theriault in the passenger seat on the night of Dec. 2, 2020. Sheriff's deputies were called at about 10:20 p.m. to a crash near 21400 High Rock Road, roughly four miles south of Monroe. The charges were signed by deputy prosecutor Tobin Darrow.

Deputies found the BMW off the road and down an embankment, "tangled up in the brush and trees," the charges say. Berkovich was lying unconscious outside the driver's side door. Theriault's body was found in the brush, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, Darrow wrote.

Berkovich was taken to a hospital. He reportedly told deputies that he and Theriault had watched a movie earlier in the evening and were headed out to buy cigarettes when a deer ran into the road, prompting him to steer sharply to the right.

Deputies reportedly smelled alcohol on Berkovich and noted that his eyes were bloodshot and watery. He said he had one glass of wine with dinner, according to the charges. A search warrant for a sample of his blood was sought but not authorized. A doctor who evaluated him in the emergency room at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett recorded that he was "intoxicated, with some pressured speech and tangential thought patterns," Darrow wrote.

A crash scene expert reviewed the tire friction marks and concluded that the driver failed to turn at high speed. The expert found no evidence of the rightward steering Berkovich had described. Data from the BMW's event data recorder showed the car was traveling 98 mph five seconds before the airbags deployed. The speed limit on that stretch of road is 35 mph.

A warrant for Berkovich's arrest was issued this month, with a request that he be held on $1 million bail. Darrow wrote that Berkovich was convicted of DUI in New York in 2013 and was arrested in July 2021 on I-5 for investigation of driving under the influence. As of Friday afternoon, he had not been booked into the Snohomish County Jail.

Theriault's family paid tribute to her with an obituary and photos. "Sophie Theriault really stood out was the way she so deeply connected with so many people," the obituary reads. "She had a capacity to listen, inspire, and hold. She truly, truly loved everyone, and in this difficult world, that takes courage. She loved fearlessly and with reckless abandon. We all felt it, and we will all miss that boundless generosity."