KING COUNTY, Wash. — Four Washington State Patrol (WSP) vehicles were struck by impaired drivers within four hours last weekend, according to the agency.
All four collisions occurred between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
The first incident happened around 11 p.m. when a trooper was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of state Route 516 and Military Road.
The trooper noticed that the driver at the wheel of a car stopped at the light was asleep. As the trooper tried to get the driver's attention, the car began rolling forward into the intersection. The trooper drove in front of the other car and was struck in order to prevent it from rolling into the intersection. That driver was arrested for suspected impairment.
The next incident happened when multiple troopers were responding to a hit-and-run incident on southbound Interstate 5 near Boeing Access Road. A car traveling southbound came across the scene and struck one of the patrol vehicles - pushing that car into the second WSP vehicle that responded to the scene. The troopers were uninjured and the driver was arrested for suspected impairment.
Shortly after, another trooper responding to that same scene to assist with traffic control was struck by a suspected impaired driver. That driver was also arrested.
"This is a glaring example of the dangers troopers face on the roadways every day, and these collisions could have one hundred percent (100%) been avoided!" The agency wrote in a press release. "These two drivers made a choice to get behind the wheel impaired and put several lives in danger."