Driver who struck 17 vehicles on I-5 may have suffered ‘psychotic episode’
Nov 18, 2016, 9:35 AM | Updated: 2:13 pm
The vehicle that hit at least 15 others on northbound I-5 Friday morning. (WSP)
(WSP)
The driver who allegedly struck 17 vehicles on northbound I-5 Friday morning may have been experiencing a “psychotic episode,” according to a report from KIRO 7.
Victims whose cars were struck while heading into Seattle said police told them the driver claimed she had not taken her medication and believed she was “being chased.”
The driver of the vehicle that allegedly caused the incident — a Toyota Camry — was transported to Harborview Medical Center.
The driver allegedly caused a string of collisions on northbound I-5 between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Yesler Way shortly before 9 a.m. That is roughly 11.5 miles — from the southern stretch of Boeing Field into downtown Seattle.
The Washington State Patrol reports as many as 17 vehicles were hit. The left lane of the freeway was closed for nearly two hours where the causing vehicle came to rest. Seattle traffic along northbound I-5 remained slow while emergency crews tended to the scene.
No injuries were reported among the affected drivers. There was initially an approximate four-mile backup. By 10:30 a.m. the backup was reduced to three miles behind the scene on northbound I-5.
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