New details have emerged in the death of Geoff Gilbert, the music teacher at W.F. West High School who died in an early February crash on Interstate 5 in Chehalis.
According to the Washington State Patrol, Gilbert had been traveling at a high rate of speed south on I-5 when his motorcycle hit the rear end of a pickup a half-mile south of the 13th Street interchange. The driver of the pickup was unharmed in the crash.
Toxicology results obtained by the state patrol showed amounts of alcohol and tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in Gilbert’s system at the time of his death. THC is the main psychoactive substance found in marijuana.
However, according to Lt. Ron Rupke of the state patrol, the exact amount of alcohol in Gilbert’s system could not be traced due to a flawed blood sample. The sample returned what appeared to be an impossibly high blood-alcohol level, but Rupke said while that level was not correct, he could confirm that Gilbert had at least some alcohol in his body.
“He had been drinking and did have alcohol in his system,” said Rupke.
Gilbert’s accident occurred around 1 a.m. the morning of Feb. 9 as he was returning home from his first performance as an official member of the Olympia Jazz Senators, a group of jazz musicians who play from 7 to 9 p.m. two Mondays per month at the Royal in downtown Olympia.
Rupke stated that according to witnesses, Gilbert accelerated to a high rate of speed on his motorcycle just south of where the speed limit increases from 60 miles per hour to 70. The pickup had been traveling at around the speed limit when Gilbert’s motorcycle clipped the back of the pickup, according to Rupke.
“It’s not uncommon that we see alcohol and speed as two major factors in traffic accidents we deal with,” said Rupke. “This was just a terrible situation for the Gilbert family and tragic for the community as well.”
