More than six month after a crash that injured two well-known South End business people, Leroy E. Olsen III was arraigned this week on charges of vehicular assault.

Olsen pled not guilty Monday in Island County Superior Court.

The charges stemmed from a crash in late March in which Kim Blain of PayLess Foods in Freeland, and Olsen, who has run fireworks shows on the South End, were injured in a one-car crash.

Olsen, of Freeland, was driving a 2008 Audi R8 southbound on Goss Lake Road. As his car came around a left-hand bend, he lost control of the Audi and it left the road, according to a State Patrol incident report on the crash. The vehicle then hit a telephone pole before striking a tree.

The car was smashed in about 18 inches on the passenger side, according to the State Patrol. Blain, a passenger in the car, broke her pelvis bone and was rushed to Whidbey General Hospital after the accident.

Washington State Patrol troopers said that alcohol and excessive speed were factors in the crash. Olsen, however, claimed he swerved to avoid hitting a deer.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, witnesses saw the car travel at high speed and cross the centerline. An eyewitness said he had to pull over to avoid a collision with Olsen’s Audi.

Analyses of Olsen’s blood by the Washington Toxicology Laboratory concluded that the driver had a blood alcohol level of 0.23, or nearly three times the legal limit, according to court documents.