Olympia man injured after driver crashes into trooper’s vehicle in GHC

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, December 9, 2025

A 46-year-old Olympia man was hurt and taken to an area hospital Monday evening after a driver crashed into a trooper’s vehicle in Grays Harbor County, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Olympia man, a Washington State Patrol trooper, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle to coach the driver, a trooper cadet, Trooper Katherine Weatherwax clarified on Tuesday.

About 5:20 p.m., the trooper cadet and his vehicle were stopped in the area of state Route 107, near the Chehalis River, to respond to a separate collision. The emergency lights of the vehicle were on, according to the State Patrol.

Despite that, troopers say a 73-year-old Aberdeen driver in the area failed to yield and crashed into the trooper’s vehicle. The Aberdeen man’s passenger, a 68-year-old woman from Cosmopolis, was injured but declined to be taken to a hospital, according to the State Patrol. The Olympia man was taken to Summit Pacific Medical Center in Elma for his injuries.

A second passenger in the trooper’s vehicle was not hurt, according to the State Patrol. The trooper cadet also was not hurt. The second passenger in the vehicle — a 23-year-old man from Aberdeen — was tied to the earlier collision, Weatherwax said.