Four State Patrol Vehicles Struck by Drunk Drivers in King County

King County is suddenly a cauldron of boozy chaos.

It was a morbidly action-packed weekend on county roadways, where not one but four Washington State Patrol cruisers were struck by impaired drivers.

The first incident was reported in Kent at 11 p.m. Saturday. The offending motorist - later charged with suspected impairment - passed out at a stoplight on SR 516 and Military Rd. The only problem? His engine was still running. A trooper was struck while trying to halt the vehicle's forward momentum, lest it roll into the intersection.

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Alas, the drunken foolery was only beginning, says Trooper Rick Johnson.

"The next three patrol car collisions occurred just before 3:00am this morning when two Washington State Patrol (WSP) troopers were at the scene of a hit and run collision SB I-5 near the Boeing Access Road blocking lane 1."

"A vehicle traveling SB I-5 came into the scene and struck one patrol vehicles pushing it into the other patrol vehicle and subsequently struck the second patrol vehicle. Thankfully, the troopers were not hurt. The driver of the vehicle was placed into custody for suspected impairment and luckily did not sustain any serious injuries.

"Shortly after this collision another trooper was responding to assist with traffic control and as he was approaching the scene he was struck by another vehicle. The driver of this vehicle was also placed into custody for suspected impairment."

This is consistent, sadly, with a statewide predilection for driving impaired.

"The Evergreen State has some of the harshest penalties in the nation for DUI offenses," writes Smart Start, a manufacturer of alcohol monitoring gadgetry. But many people are unfazed by Olympia's hard line on the issue.

"In fact, in a recent report Washington State ranked 8th highest out of all 50 states for the number of DUI arrests per year. And per the Washington State Patrol, DUI crashes and deaths caused by impaired driving are on the rise, increasing every year since 2019."