DUI driver arrested after striking two parked vehicles, including a Hoquiam PD vehicle

November 19, 2019 5:00 pm
COURTESY HOQUIAM POLICE DEPARTMENT A Vancouver man was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run after striking two parked cars — including a marked Hoquiam Police vehicle — on Cleveland Street early Tuesday morning.
COURTESY HOQUIAM POLICE DEPARTMENT A Vancouver man was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run after striking two parked cars — including a marked Hoquiam Police vehicle — on Cleveland Street early Tuesday morning.

Hoquiam Police arrested a man for DUI after the car he was driving struck two parked vehicles on Karr Avenue, including a fully marked Hoquiam Police vehicle, around 1:24 a.m. Tuesday.

According to Sgt. Jeff Salstrom, Hoquiam Officer Don Grossi was stopped in the 400 block of Karr speaking to a citizen. A 2016 Subaru Crosstrek traveling in the opposite direction struck a parked vehicle and then continued eastbound, striking the rear quarter panel of the Hoquiam Police vehicle. The driver did not stop, instead turning northbound onto Cleveland Street.

Grossi turned around and attempted to overtake the Subaru and was approximately one block behind when he watched it strike the concrete abutment separating the north and southbound lanes of the 400 block of Cleveland Street. The collision caused extensive damage to the Subaru, tearing the right front wheel assembly from the vehicle and deploying all of the airbags, said Salstrom.

Both occupants of the car — the driver, a 26-year-old Vancouver man, and a 26-year-old Aberdeen passenger — told Grossi they were uninjured, but since the crash was so severe and the airbags deployed, the Hoquiam Fire Department responded and checked over both, determining neither was injured.

The driver appeared intoxicated and admitted he’d consumed alcohol, said Salstrom. The driver took a field sobriety test and it was determined he was intoxicated. He was arrested for hit-and-run of an unattended vehicle, twice, and DUI.

The driver was taken to the Hoquiam Police Department where further tests were conducted, including a breath test that showed his alcohol content was more than three times over the limit of .08, and he was booked into the Hoquiam jail, police said.

“As the holiday season approaches, the frequency of DUI incidents increase,” said Salstrom. “Had the citizen Officer Grossi was talking to been standing on the driver’s side of his patrol car instead of the passenger side, this incident would have likely caused serious injuries or been fatal.”