Motorists in Snohomish County twice slammed into Washington State Patrol squad cars overnight, sending one trooper to a Seattle trauma center.
The trooper who was injured, Joshua Jackson, 34, of Lake Stevens, had neck and back pain and was sore, but was expected to be released from Harborview Medical Center later today, said Keith Leary, a patrol spokesman.
Around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday on I-405 just south of Highway 527 in Bothell, Jackson was stopped to help someone who had been in a crash, Leary said. Jackson’s emergency lights were on but apparently a Lynnwood woman, 21, driving a small passenger car, didn’t see the stopped vehicles and crashed.
“We don’t know why she didn’t see the trooper,” Leary said.
Jackson was sitting in his patrol car at the time of impact, Leary said. The woman was taken to a local hospital to be checked out, but wasn’t seriously injured.
Investigators believe speed likely was a factor in the crash.
Then around 2:15 a.m. this morning, a pickup truck slammed into a patrol car on State Avenue near 80th Street in Marysville.
Both the trooper and the pickup driver, a Everett man, 23, escaped injury. Troopers are investigating whether the man may have been intoxicated.
State law requires people to slow down when drivers see emergency lights and give police plenty of room, Leary said.
More importantly, Leary said, heavy rains and bad weather require drivers to slow down and use extra caution on the region’s roads.
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