Police: Passenger killed in 2-car crash with reckless driver in Parkland

PARKLAND, Wash. — A passenger in a car that was involved in a crash with a reckless driver was killed in Parkland Wednesday night, according to Pierce County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Darren Moss. Three other people were hurt.

Moss said that at 9:35 p.m., deputies pulled in behind a silver Dodge Charger that was stopped in a parking lot near 99th Street South and Pacific Avenue South to check on the driver, who had hit the curb.

When deputies pulled into the lot, they did not have their overhead lights on. Moss said the driver at first backed up, then “hammered the gas pedal” and fled the parking lot onto 99th Street before heading north on Pacific Avenue South.

The man behind the wheel of the Charger was driving recklessly and was two blocks ahead when the deputies pulled onto Pacific Avenue with their cruiser’s lights on to prepare to try to make a traffic stop, Moss said.

When the fleeing driver reached the traffic light at 96th Street East, he hit another car, causing catastrophic damage to both vehicles.

Deputies immediately called for medics, but a 47-year-old woman in the passenger seat of the car that was hit was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 48-year-old husband, the 38-year-old driver of the Charger and a 29-year-old woman who was his passenger were all taken to the hospital with injuries.

The 29-year-old woman was seriously hurt.

The crash also damaged two bus shelters on opposite sides of Pacific Avenue South, as well a fence and three vehicles at a car lot.

Police closed Pacific Avenue South at the scene. At the time of the crash, deputies were planning on getting a blood draw warrant to determine if the driver of the Charger was under the influence.

The driver is also facing two counts of vehicular assault and one count of vehicular homicide.

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