Trooper uninjured after suspected drunk driver strikes WSP vehicle on I-5
It is the third time in ten days a patrol car has been hit on the I-5 corridor, adding to a list of 64 similar strikes this year.
By Tyler Khalil ·
A Washington State Patrol trooper escaped injury early Sunday morning when a suspected impaired driver struck his unmarked vehicle on Interstate 5 in Des Moines. The 21-year-old driver, who is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, crashed a Honda Civic into the rear of the patrol Ford Explorer. The impact pushed the patrol vehicle forward into a disabled car already stopped on the shoulder.
The trooper had been positioned behind the stalled vehicle to protect it from oncoming traffic. Two teenage girls, the driver and passenger of the disabled car, were standing on the highway shoulder receiving assistance at the time of the collision. No one in the patrol vehicle or the disabled car was injured. The 21-year-old driver and two passengers in the Honda Civic sustained injuries and were transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Officials did not immediately provide updates on their medical conditions.
This incident marks the third time a state patrol vehicle has been struck along the I-5 corridor in ten days. Troopers documented two previous strikes in the same timeframe. One occurred on southbound I-5 near state Route 520. The other happened on northbound I-5 near South 272nd Street.
Agency data shows a persistent hazard for first responders working highway scenes. During the first nine months of 2026, 64 Washington State Patrol vehicles were struck during traffic enforcement stops or collision investigations. Those strikes left 19 troopers injured. The figures do not include incidents recorded in October or November.
The risk of secondary highway collisions resulted in a fatality last December. Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting was struck and killed outside her patrol vehicle while investigating a two-car crash. The state has a
