CLINTON, Wash — Washington state will pay $8.5 million to the families of two people killed in a DUI crash on Whidbey Island in 2021. The state also claims no liability as part of the settlement.
In a statement, attorneys for the families said the incident was a "tremendous loss" for both families.
"As they continue to mourn the tragic loss of Kenneth Weikle and Sharon Gamble, this outcome of the family’s lawsuit represents the finale of a long and difficult pursuit for accountability from the Washington State Ferry System," according to Neil Lindquist, who represented the family of Weikle.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the estates of Sharon Gamble and Kenneth Weikle, claims Washington State Ferries workers could have prevented the crash on Dec. 18, 2021. Attorneys claim it was "negligence" for the ferry workers to wake up the intoxicated driver and allow her to board and disembark the vessel.
Gamble and Weikle were killed when Danielle Cruz crashed into their vehicle after leaving the Clinton ferry terminal, according to a Washington State Patrol incident report. Cruz was intoxicated at the time, according to the report.
The day of the incident, witnesses at the Mukilteo ferry terminal saw Cruz "swerving," stopping at a green light, and rear ending a vehicle in the holding lanes, according to the complaint. Ferry workers also witnessed her strike the car in front of her, but Cruz was still allowed to load onto the M/V Issaquah.
The complaint said a crew member was told a Washington state trooper was not available to meet the boat when the crew member placed a call to the commander center.
Cruz was reportedly "unconscious in the driver's seat" and the crew had trouble waking her when the vessel arrived in Clinton, the complaint said, but eventually woke and drove away, nearly hitting a truck in a line of waiting vehicles.
Gamble was killed at the scene. Weikle spent 12 days in the hospital before he died.
Cruz pleaded guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison.
"No family should endure the heartbreak we face, and we will continue to fight to ensure that in the future, our State Ferry System will work with law enforcement to stop impaired drivers so that no other family has to endure what the Weikle’s and Gamble’s have gone through," Lindquist said.
In a statement, Washington State Ferries said, “Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims' friends and family.”