5 people injured in another wrong-way crash in Pierce County Sunday morning
The Washington State Patrol responded to not one, not two, but three wrong-way crashes in and around Tacoma early Sunday.
The first two wrecks happened around 2 a.m. on state Route 512 and on northbound Interstate 5 at South 56th Street.
The third wrong-way crash was reported about 4:25 a.m. on I-705 in Tacoma, according to the State Patrol.
Troopers say that’s where a 22-year-old Lakewood man, who has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, was headed south in the northbound lanes of I-705. He crashed head-on into a second vehicle, according to State Patrol.
Both occupants of the second vehicle — a Tacoma man and woman in their 20s — then got out when a third vehicle came headed in their direction.
“After the initial crash, another vehicle traveling NB (I-705) came through the scene and struck one of the occupants from the victim car of the first crash,” Trooper John Dattilo said via social media. “That occupant has been transported and is expected to survive. The third car stopped and is cooperating with our investigation.”
The third car stopped but not without injury. In updated information, troopers say two Tacoma men, ages 37 and 41, in that vehicle were injured after it crashed into a cement wall.
Four of the five people injured in the wreck were taken to Tacoma General Hospital. A fifth person was injured, but was not transported, according to State Patrol.
The road was blocked for more than five hours following the two crashes, according to State Patrol.
