Pickup driver killed following crash near Lakewood. Traffic backed up on I-5
Update:
A Washington State Patrol press memo Tuesday said that the pickup truck’s driver was a 19-year-old man from Lakewood, and his passenger was an 18-year-old woman from Lakewood. The semi-truck driver, a 39-year-old man from DuPont, was uninjured, the memo said.
The road was blocked for three hours and eight minutes, according to the memo.
Original post:
A crash between a pickup truck and a semi-truck left one person dead near Lakewood on Tuesday afternoon.
The pickup truck’s driver reportedly lost control while driving on northbound I-5 north of Bridgeport Way, according to witnesses. The driver veered in front of a semi-truck and crashed, Washington State Patrol Trooper John Dattilo posted on X.
A passenger in the pickup was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, the post said. After paramedics and troopers attempted lifesaving measures, the pickup truck’s driver died at the scene.
The middle two lanes on the highway are open, while the right and left lanes are blocked. There is about five miles of traffic backed up on Interstate 5 and it is growing, according to WSDOT Tacoma on X.
This is expected to be an extended closure and drivers are advised to use alternate routes or delay their travel in the area.
3:40 p.m. update: All lanes have opened back up. Backups are about 10 miles through the Joint Base Lewis-McChord corridor, WSDOT Tacoma wrote on X.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM.
