Officials identify Tacoma man, Puyallup teen killed in wrong-way crash near downtown
A Tacoma man and a 17-year-old boy from Puyallup who were killed earlier this month in a wrong-way car crash on an Interstate 5 interchange in Tacoma were identified Monday by the medical examiner.
Levi Moser of Tacoma and Benjamin Metzger of Puyallup died of multiple blunt-force injuries following the April 2 collision, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release. The Washington State Patrol said Moser and Metzger were in a Honda Accord with a 15-year-old girl merging from Interstate 5 to northbound Interstate 705 when a driver suspected of DUI slammed head-on into their vehicle.
The wrong-way driver, Gregory Steele, was arrested after the fatal collision and charged the next day in Pierce County Superior Court with DUI vehicular homicide and two counts of vehicular assault.
He pleaded not guilty at the arraignment, and bail was set at $1 million. According to court records, Steele is a 37-year-old Gig Harbor man who owns a computer repair shop in Port Orchard. As of Tuesday morning, he remained in custody at Pierce County Jail.
Troopers responded to the wreck at about 12:44 a.m., the state patrol said. Moser, the driver of the Honda, was declared dead at the scene. His passengers were both transported to St. Joseph Medical Center, where Metzger later died. Troopers reported the 15-year-old who survived the crash was the only person in the vehicle wearing a seat belt.
A 27-year-old woman in the wrong-way driver’s vehicle was also hurt. Prosecutors wrote in charging documents that her arm was broken and her hand was fractured.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 8:44 AM.
