She had a kid in the backseat and 9 miles of wrong-way driving to go on I-5 in WA
A Washington State Patrol trooper stopped a wrong-way driver on Interstate 5 in DuPont early Sunday by putting her police interceptor in the path of the allegedly impaired driver.
The northbound driver, a 28-year-old Tacoma woman, stopped inches from the trooper’s Ford Explorer in the southbound lanes of I-5. She had traveled at least nine miles in the southbound lanes from Lacey to DuPont with a 3-year-old child in the backseat, according to the WSP.
Trooper Shelby Miller used phoned-in tips from other drivers to anticipate the location of the wrong-way driver.
At least a dozen witness called 911 to report the Honda Civic, which was first spotted on I-5 near Marvin Way. The WSP said those calls were crucial to locating the driver and averting a potential tragedy.
Miller stopped her Ford Explorer in the far left lane to block the Civic’s driver.
“The driver stopped on the inside shoulder just inches from the WSP trooper’s push bars as they moved into position to block the Honda’s path,” the WSP said in a statement.
The woman stopped just north of Exit 119 at Pendleton Avenue. She was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and reckless endangerment, according to the WSP.
The child became the responsibility of Child Protective Services.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 7:50 PM.
