PORT TOWNSEND — Two drivers, one distracted when he reached into the back seat for a cupcake and another startled by a deer, were hurt in separate single-car wrecks near Port Townsend.
Dominic Jude Compton, 40, of Port Townsend; Elizabeth Cline, age and hometown unknown; and Samuel Joseph Mangold, 20, of Everett were taken to Jefferson Healthcare hospital in Port Townsend after the wrecks on Wednesday and early this morning.
A hospital spokeswoman was not immediately available Thursday to provide their conditions.
The State Patrol cited the drivers of both cars — Compton and Mangold — for negligent driving.
Compton was traveling northbound on state Highway 19 near the intersection with state Highway 20 when he reached for the cupcake, causing the 1987 Jeep Cherokee he was driving to drift into the shoulder at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, the State Patrol said.
The vehicle crashed into a ditch and came to a rest against a tree, troopers said in State Patrol collision memo.
Cline was a passenger in Compton’s car.
Driver inattention caused the wreck, the State Patrol said.
Drugs or alcohol were not involved, troopers said.
In the early-morning wreck today, Mangold was driving a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta southbound on state Highway 19 when he entered a corner too fast and saw a deer, the State Patrol said.
Mangold “panic braked, lost control of the vehicle and crossed over the northbound lane coming to rest in the ditch on the east side of the roadway,” troopers said in a collision memo.
The cause of the wreck was speed too fast for conditions, the State Patrol said.
Drugs or alcohol were not involved, troopers said.
The collision was reported at 12:34 a.m. about six miles south of Port Townsend.
The state Department of Transportation said the northbound lane was blocked until 1:51 a.m.
Mangold and Compton were both wearing seat belts.
Both vehicles were destroyed, the State Patrol said.
