PUYALLUP, Wash. — The Washington State Patrol is looking for a driver they say caused a fatal four-car collision on State Route 167 in Puyallup, then left the scene.
It happened around 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Troopers say a man was killed and a woman was seriously injured.
As of 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, troopers were still looking for a green Saturn Vue with plate number APL7862 which they believe caused the fatal wreck.
Mike Tollkuehn told us he was in the first vehicle struck in a four-car collision on SR-167 or River Road in Puyallup.
He says he was traveling west when a man traveling east swerved suddenly to avoid a vehicle that pulled out from a side street.
“He swerved to the right, missed the car, got onto the shoulder, lost control and came across three lanes of traffic,” Tollkuehn explained.
“[Then] got the back rear-end of my vehicle which spun him around; he hit the guardrail on the other side and car behind me.”
Tollkuehn said first responders tried to revive the driver but he died at the scene. A woman in the SUV behind Tollkuehn was seriously injured.
Washington State troopers said the vehicle they believe caused the crash left the scene.
“There were a lot of police.
There were at least two full-size fire units and four aid cars and local police—backup both ways as far as the eye could see,” said Richard Judd, who lives just off River Road.
He heard the violent crash; he says drivers routinely pull out into oncoming traffic.
“You have to get up to speed, go from zero to about 60 miles an hour very quickly,” Richard said.
Tollkuehn said this time it didn’t happen nearly quickly enough—and it cost someone their life.
“Wasn’t their fault, they were just driving down the road minding their own business,” Tollkuehn concluded.