Family fights drunk driving in honor of son

COEUR D’ALENE — A year to the day after losing her son, Ryan, to a drunken driver, Patricia Allen shared his story. Her family — including her husband, Vern, and their other sons — stood beside her.

“Ryan is with us, too,” she said, her voice cracking as she looked at a table where photos and mementos of her late son were carefully arranged.

Patricia, Vern and their son, Troy, were all in the same car on the night of the crash, which occurred near Hayden on March 9, 2019.

Cory Kreager of Priest River was reportedly traveling eastbound on Boekel Road and failed to stop at a stop sign, hitting the driver’s side of the Allens’ van, which rolled several times before settling in a ditch.

After the crash, Patricia recalled hearing her injured husband’s gurgling breath. When she looked to check on Ryan, he wasn’t there. Instead, she saw “a hole in the side of the van.”

Ryan had been ejected from the vehicle. Patricia saw his body in the snow.

Vern described the desperation with which Troy crawled out of the van and made his way to his brother. Troy performed CPR on Ryan until help arrived. But it was too late. Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was 38 years old.

It wasn’t the first time the Allen family was impacted by a drunk driver. At age 11, Ryan was hit by a drunk driver. He was in a coma for three months after the accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He also needed a wheelchair to get around.

“He enjoyed life,” Patricia said.

The Allen family shared Ryan’s story as part of a DUI emphasis press conference at the Idaho State Police regional headquarters building in Coeur d’Alene.

The Kootenai County Substance Abuse Council also presented awards recognizing the officers in Kootenai County who made the most DUI arrests in 2019.

The officers who were recognized are Officer Chris Schatz with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, Officer Jake Donnerberg with Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police, Corporal John Cushman with Idaho State Police, Deputy Tom Broughton with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Cody Childers with the Post Falls Police Department, Officer Eric Bailey with the Rathdrum Police Department and Corporal Ben Kirkendall with the Spirit Lake Police Department.

Officer Chris Schatz was the No. 1 arresting officer in Kootenai County, with 129 DUI arrests in 2019.

The council also honored Coeur d’Alene Police Office Nick Knoll, who made 108 DUI arrests in 2019. Each one represents potential lives saved, he said.

Fatality crashes involving drugs and alcohol were down 26 percent in 2019.

There were no drug or alcohol-related fatality crashes between the beginning of Memorial Day weekend and the end of Labor Day weekend, a period known as “the 100 deadliest days of summer.” In 2017 and 2018, four people were killed during that period.

Corporal Troy Tulleners was one of the first responders on the scene of the crash that killed Ryan Allen. The day after the crash, he recalled, he spoke with the Allens in the hospital. Despite their injuries, they asked what they could to do help get drunk drivers off the road.

“Since that day, it’s incredible to see what the Allen family has done,” he said.

The Allens have founded the Idaho DUI Coalition, which aims to provide awareness, prevention, outreach, enforcement and victim support concerning impaired drivers.

“We’re going to do things that will help — education, awareness, legislation,” Patricia said.

Ryan’s brother, Bret, said he fell to his knees when he learned of Ryan’s death. He began punching the ground as a means of expressing his pain.

“The most important thing to me, as a brother, is that his death is not in vain,” Bret said. “We’re here for the long haul.”

His father agreed.

“This is just a start for us,” Vern said.