CLINTON, Wash — The families of two people killed in a DUI crash on Whidbey Island in 2021 are suing the Washington State Department of Transportation and the causing driver.
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 of last year.
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 says, but eventually woke and drove away, nearly hitting a truck in a line of waiting vehicles.
The complaint describes a written statement from a ferry worker that said what she heard and saw "alarmed her" to the point where she said, "Something is going to happen."
Gamble was killed at the scene. Weikle spent 12 days in the hospital before he died.
KING 5 reached out to the Department of Transportation, but they said they don't comment on pending litigation.