Surprise Plea in Motorcyclist Death

A man accused of causing a drunken crash west of Naches that killed a motorcyclist entered a surprise plea today.

Scott Edwin Bradford, 40, pleaded guilty in Yakima County Superior Court to a charge of vehicular homicide. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend a bottom-of-the-range sentence of 31 months, or just over 2 and 1/2 years in prison.

A sentencing date was set for June 4. In the meantime, Bradford remains in jail on $50,000 bail.

Bradford went on trial Monday for his role in a crash on Aug. 6 on State Route 410 that claimed the life of 30-year-old Zacharey Cox of the Seattle suburb of Redmond.

Cox was killed when the motorcycle he was riding, a high-performance Italian-made Ducati, crashed into the side of Bradford’s car on an S-curve near Cliffdell, about 27 miles west of Naches.

Prosecutors alleged that Bradford caused the crash by making an illegal U-turn in a no-passing zone. They also accused Bradford of having a blood-alcohol level of .018, more than double the threshold for drunken driving.

The plea came on Day Two of Bradford’s trial, not counting three days spent picking a jury last week.

The crash happened while Cox, a carpenter, was heading home after visiting friends in Bend, Ore., where he took part in a Ducati Club run.

Bradford, who is from Puyallup, Pierce County apparently was camping in the area. Neither he nor several teenage passengers in his car were injured.