Bellevue High Athlete Dies In I-5 Accident

Bellevue High School athlete Brandon West, 17, died yesterday when a sport-utility vehicle in which he was riding flipped on the way to a Mount Vernon basketball tournament.

The 8:10 a.m. crash happened along Interstate 5 near the Starbird Road exit where the freeway runs downhill into the Skagit Valley.

Four boys were in a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder, driven by Jeffrey Razore, 16, of Medina. Razore tried a lane change to his right, saw a car there and apparently over-corrected when he tried to steer back into his original lane. The Pathfinder rolled in the median, landing on its top.

All four boys were wearing seat belts.

"We have no evidence of tomfoolery here," State Patrol Trooper Kurt Adkinson said. "There was no disregard for the safety of others."

Other players and a coach were in a car behind them, said the Razore family's attorney, Bob Jaffe. Several family members rushed to Mount Vernon afterward, he said.

Razore was treated for minor injuries and released from Skagit Valley Hospital. Daniel J. Dicks, 16, of Bellevue, and John M. Groseclose, 17, of Bellevue were also treated for bumps and bruises, then released.

Word of the accident traveled fast through the close-knit Bellevue High community. By early afternoon, friends and schoolmates were dropping by the Wests' Clyde Hill home. The boy's parents, David and Linda West, have been active in school fund-raising campaigns. He has an older sister, Kylee.

West, 17, started at guard last season for the Wolverines' basketball team, which made the playoffs for the first time in four years. He played two positions in football. From the family's backyard basketball court, he used to put on a hoop camp for younger children, neighbor Gary Justice said.

"He's a nice kid, real popular at school," Principal Mike Bacigalupi said. "He was always real polite, a real gentleman toward adults."

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Nancy Montgomery is included in this report.