KING COUNTY, Wash. — Two days after WSP District 7 announced holiday emphasis patrols, WSP SUVs in King County were struck on three separate occasions in a 4-hour timespan.
According to WSP Public Information Officer Trooper Rick Johnson, the strikes happened all within four hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
The first crash happened around 11 p.m. on State Route 517 and Military Road. The trooper said that he saw a car at the intersection with the driver apparently asleep. Soon after the light turned green and the trooper could not get the driver’s attention, the car began to roll into the intersection, forcing the trooper to move his patrol SUV in front of it. The car struck the SUV and the driver was arrested on suspicion of impairment.
The second crash happened before 3 a.m. on Sunday on southbound Interstate 5 near Boeing Access Road. Two patrol cars were on the scene of a hit-and-run crash when an incoming car slammed into one patrol SUV and forced it into the second. Both SUVs and the driver’s car were damaged but no one was injured. The driver was also arrested on suspicion of impairment.
The third crash happened not long after the second crash. A trooper was on their way to help with traffic control when the trooper was hit. The driver was also arrested on suspicion of impairment.
“This is a glaring example of the dangers troopers face on the roadways every day and these collisions could have one hundred percent (100%) been avoided!” wrote Trooper Johnson. “These two drivers made a choice to get behind the wheel impaired and put several lives in danger.”
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