Trooper after ramming: ‘I felt like the world was coming to an end’

LYNNWOOD — Trooper Chris Caiola was stiff, sore and grateful to be alive Tuesday, hours after his parked Washington State Patrol car was rammed on the shoulder of I-5 in Lynnwood.

“It could have been worse, a lot worse,” he said.

The driver of the

other car was booked into the Snohomish County Jail Tuesday for investigation of being a minor in possession of alcohol, reckless endangerment and driving after drinking alcohol while under the age of 21.

The Everett woman, 19, said she had been at a home where marijuana was being smoked but said she did not have any, according to court documents. She admitted having a sip of alcohol and told an investigator she was eight weeks pregnant.

She and her three passengers were examined by medics at the crash scene but were not seriously injured. They had been driving to Gas Works Park in Seattle.

The accident occurred around 10:45 p.m. Monday on a southbound stretch of the freeway near 196th Street SW. Caiola had just finished a traffic stop and was typing up a report on a laptop computer.

He heard no squeal of brakes and had no warning before his car was struck from behind.

“I heard what initially sounded to me like an explosion,” he said.

It felt like someone picked up the car and shook it, he said.

In the chaotic moments afterward, he searched for but could not find his cell phone to call his wife. His portable radio was wedged beneath the gas pedal. The passenger side door was pinned against a concrete barrier and the driver’s side door was smashed in and wouldn’t open.

Caiola, a canine officer, called out to Buster, his drug-sniffing police dog. There was no sound from the backseat. He noticed specks of dust floating in the light.

“I felt like the world was coming to an end,” he said.

The police dog, Buster, was examined at a Lynnwood veterinary hospital and given a clean bill of health.

Caiola, 41, was treated and released from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He had bumps and bruises and was feeling soreness in his chest and shoulder Tuesday afternoon. Troopers believe the car that struck Caiola’s vehicle was traveling around the speed limit, which is 60 mph.

Leary said Monday’s accident shows how dangerous the job of a trooper can be.

Between 2006 and 2009, the Washington State Patrol alone had 80 collisions involving vehicles striking trooper cars pulled over on the highway.

There were seven roadside collisions in 2010 and eight so far this year.

Caiola said he has no feelings of ill will toward the driver.

“I just hope she looks at this as a learning experience,” he said.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com .

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.