17-year-old driver causes fatal crash on I-5, shuts down highway for hours
Jan 24, 2025, 6:07 AM | Updated: 10:09 am
WSP, WSDOT and a local fire department respond to the I-5 crash early Friday morning. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
Interstate 5 (I-5) was shut down for several hours due to a fatal crash before reopening 5 a.m. Friday morning.
The crash happened just after 1 a.m. on I-5 between Bridgeport and State Route 512 near Lakewood. The driver, 17, was allegedly driving the wrong way on the highway before striking another car head-on, according to the Washington State Patrol (WSP). The driver who caused the collision was not injured, but the victim, driving a red Honda, involved in the crash died at the scene.
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The surviving driver was arrested for DUI. The 17-year-old suspect was booked into Remann Hall, the juvenile detention center in Pierce County.
All lanes reopened a few hours later just before 5 a.m.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
