Wrong-way driver dies in I-90 crash

A 25-year-old Bremerton man died early Saturday morning after crashing his SUV into a truck while driving against traffic on Interstate 90 near North Bend.

The man, whose name was not released by press time, was driving a 2000 Jeep Cherokee east in the westbound lanes of I-90 near milepost 28.

According to Washington State Patrol spokesman Dan McDonald, at about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, a State Trooper responding to a 911 call was driving west on the freeway near North Bend when she noticed a pair of headlights coming at her.

The trooper swerved left to miss the oncoming vehicle, while the Jeep driver swerved in the opposite direction, entering the center lane and colliding with a bakery truck.

The Jeep driver’s injuries were fatal. His 25-year-old female passenger, also of Bremerton, suffered serious injuries and was transported to Harborview Medical Center and Hospital in Seattle. The truck driver, a 43-year-old Lynnwood man, was also injured and taken to Harborview.

Alcohol was a factor in the crash, but police aren’t sure how long the Jeep was driving the wrong way.

“Where he got on, we don’t know,” McDonald said

The wrong way driver was originally from Wichita Falls, Texas, but had a Bremerton address. Police speculated that he may have been in the military.

A similar crash happened in 2009 on Interstate 90 near the Tinkham Road exit. A woman was killed instantly after striking a pickup truck while driving west in the eastbound lanes.

Contact Snoqualmie Valley Record Reporter Allison Espiritu at aespiritu@valleyrecord,com or 425-888-2311.

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