Investigators say drunken driver caused fatal I-5 crash

KOMO-TV

Investigators say a crash that killed a man on Interstate 5 in Everett early Monday was caused by a drunken driver.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary said a man driving a pickup truck in the southbound lanes of the freeway drifted out of his lane about 2:30 a.m. and slammed into an empty flatbed truck that was parked on the shoulder of the highway.

The passenger in the pickup truck died at the scene, and the driver was taken to Providence Colby Hospital.

Leary said the driver was believed to be drunk at the time of the crash, and investigators found several open beer containers in the wrecked truck.

No one was inside the flatbed truck that was hit.

Troopers shut down two of the southbound lanes of I-5 at the crash scene near the Everett Mall for several hours while they collected evidence and worked to clear the vehicles.

Leary said the crash was one of 60 suspected drunken driving cases troopers dealt with over the weekend.

"This is why we're out here every single day, to get these folks out and off the road so something like this doesn't happen," he said.

The driver was expected to be booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of vehicular homicide when he is released from the hospital.

The name of the man who was killed has not been released.