Everett,WA : Wrong-way driver goes 20 miles before crash in Mount Vernon on October, Wednesday 4th 2017

A man drove more than 20 miles in the wrong direction on I-5 early Wednesday before he was stopped after skirting a police roadblock in Mount Vernon and slamming into two other vehicles, police said.

The drivers of the vehicles he struck a Subaru and a semitruck were not injured, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The wrong-way driver was trapped in his vehicle. He was injured but “alert and conscious” when taken from the vehicle, the Patrol spokeswoman said.

After being freed by firefighters, he was arrested on investigation of driving under the influence of intoxicants, Trooper Heather Axtman said.

Axtman said 911 calls came in about 4:15 a.m. reporting a wrong-way driver heading south in the northbound lanes of I-5 in Whatcom County near milepost 245 and Lake Samish.

A trooper saw the vehicle and was able to keep pace by driving in the southbound lanes, Axtman said.

The trooper said she had her lights and sirens activated and the “driver looked over and saw her, but had no regard and made no attempt to stop,” Axtman said. She said the trooper and other witnesses reported that the man was meandering all over the roadway.

Other troopers set up a roadblock at Kincaid Street in Mount Vernon, she said.

But the man was seemingly not deterred and simply “drove around the patrol car” before crashing into the two vehicles, she said.

The freeway was cleared and reopened shortly after 5 a.m., police said.


Source :
Wrong-way driver goes 20 miles before crash in Mount Vernon