Driver in wrong-way I-5 crash drank ‘4 to 5 shots,’ WSP says
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 26, 2019
LYNNWOOD — A Lake Stevens woman admitted she consumed cannabis, “four to five” shots of vodka and several beers before a wrong-way, head-on crash on I-5, according to police reports filed in court Tuesday.
Seven people were treated at hospitals, Washington State Patrol reports say. Two of them had broken bones and were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The crash was part of a chain reaction around 4:10 a.m. Sunday. A state Department of Transportation sanding truck had slowed to 35 mph in the right lane of northbound I-5, near 164th Street SW, court papers say. Suddenly, the driver heard a bang and felt a jolt while passing through Lynnwood.
A silver Dodge Dart had clipped the back of the truck, sending the Dodge skidding across three lanes of freeway, over the grassy median and into a Toyota Scion.
A woman, 39, who was a passenger in the Toyota, suffered the most severe injuries: broken ribs, a broken wrist and a bruised kidney. Debris hit another oncoming car, injuring three people, according to troopers.
The Toyota driver, 37, of Redmond, took a breath test about 1½ hours later, in a neck brace on a hospital bed at Harborview. His blood-alcohol content was estimated at 0.067, according to the state patrol. Troopers were granted a search warrant to draw his blood, but they did not book him into jail.
Police focused their investigation on the Dodge driver, 23. She had wounds to her face and a rash in the shape of a seat belt. She reportedly told a trooper she last drank alcohol about 1½ hours before driving. Her blood was drawn around 7:30 a.m.
A passenger in the Dodge had been found unconscious in the car, with injuries to her face. The Mountlake Terrace woman, 22, reported she’d gone with her friend to the Tacoma Dome for a dubstep concert. She thought they’d rented a hotel room. She didn’t remember what happened after the music.
The Lake Stevens woman was booked into jail for investigation of two counts of vehicular assault Monday. She has no felony record. Court records show since she turned 18 she’d been cited six times for driving without a license, five times for driving without insurance and three times for tailgating.
An Everett District Court judge released her pending her next hearing.
Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.
