LYNNWOOD — Two Washington State Patrol troopers were treated and released from a Seattle hospital early Tuesday morning after crashing into one another during a pursuit.
The collision occurred shortly after midnight at the intersection of Maple Road and Ash Way near Lynnwood.
Both troopers, driving 2008 Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars, were going to assist in pursuing a man in a stolen car. One was heading south on Ash Way, the other west on Maple Road. They collided in the intersection.
Trooper Aaron Duncan, 27, suffered a possible concussion and a broken finger. Trooper Garrett Smith, 24, was treated for scrapes. Both were taken to Harborview Medical Center.
Patrol spokesman Mark Francis said it appears that the car driven by Smith may have failed to yield.
The troopers were trying to help out after receiving a radio call for assistance when a driver raced away from a traffic stop on south I-5 near the 164th Street exit.
The driver got off I-5 onto some side roads in south Snohomish County, but returned to the freeway where speeds reached up to 120 mph, Francis said.
A state patrol sergeant called off the pursuit because of safety concerns. The car was last seen getting off I-5 at the S. Boeing Access Road south of Seattle. The driver has not been arrested.
The chase started when a trooper pulled over a Dodge Avenger for suspected speeding. The car was clocked at 79 mph on the freeway, where the speed limit is 60 mph, Francis said. The trooper also suspected that the car was stolen.
During the stop, a man sitting in the Avenger’s passenger seat jumped out. The man, 27, later was arrested on a King County warrant for investigation of identity theft. He also told troopers he swallowed some heroin.
The driver sped off when the man got out. A woman remained in the back seat.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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