4 die in separate weekend accidents

By Jennifer Langston

Herald Writer

Three car accidents over the weekend claimed the lives of four people, including a freak accident in which a tree fell on a passing car and killed its driver.

A man was driving a mid-1970s Ford down Broadway Avenue in Snohomish Saturday afternoon when a 75-foot tree toppled onto the road and hit his car.

The tree must have been weakened or diseased and simply gave way, said Jan Jorgensen, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver, who was in his mid- to late-40s, was likely killed instantly.

His car continued on about 900 feet through two backyards, hitting a hot tub before it landed upside down, Jorgensen said.

None of the accident victims had been identified by name Saturday night. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office plans to conduct autopsies Monday.

Two women were killed shortly before midnight Friday night when the sport utility vehicle they were riding in collided with a subcompact car in the 8700 block of Evergreen Way in Everett.

Both cars were traveling in the southbound lanes when the wreck occurred, police said. The sport utility vehicle veered off the road and slammed into the side of a Blockbuster video store, said Everett police Sgt. Boyd Bryant.

Another woman and two men who were in the car were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where they were in critical and serious conditions with head, abdominal and chest injuries Saturday night.

The two occupants of the subcompact car were uninjured, police said.

A 23-year-old Navy officer was killed by a hit-and-run driver after 11 p.m. on Friday as she was crossing the street with friends at the corner of Broadway and Hewitt Avenue.

The driver fled the scene but was followed by a passing motorist, who got his license number and called police on a cell phone. The suspect was caught by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office south of Everett.

The man was questioned by police and released while the investigation is continuing, Bryant said. No charges have been filed yet.

Anyone with information about either of the two fatal accidents is asked to call the Everett Police Department’s tip line at 425-257-8450.

You can call Herald Writer Jennifer Langston at 425-339-3452

or send e-mail to langston@heraldnet.com.

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