PORT ANGELES — A driver crashed his car in west Port Angeles late Tuesday morning after reaching what one onlooker estimated was up to 80 mph in a suburban alley with a 15-mph speed limit, police said.
He reportedly sustained head injuries but was alert and talking, police said.
An Olympic Medical Center spokeswoman said Carl O. Giddings, 38, of Port Angeles, was in satisfactory condition Tuesday.
An area resident said it Giddings appeared to be going 70 to 80 mph down Park View Lane, a gravel drive between 10th and 11th streets, when he crashed the car, Deputy Police Chief Brian Smith said.
Port Angeles Fire Department firefighter Tyler Bieker was among emergency personnel who helped extricate Giddings with a hydraulic tool that removed the driver’s-side door.
Giddings’ condition “wasn’t very serious,” and he did not appear to have any broken bones, Bieker said.
Smith, who was at the scene, said Giddings appeared to have head injuries but was talking to his rescuers.
Potential charges
Police will investigate Giddings on potential charges of reckless driving and impaired driving, Smith said.
“People do not crash and drive through alleys at high speeds, normally,” Smith said.
Authorities may get a search warrant to draw blood from Giddings to determine whether he had been taking drugs or drinking alcohol, Smith said.
Police Sgt. Jesse Winfield first saw Giddings driving “at a very high rate of speed” at 11:09 a.m. at Eighth and C streets, he said.
“[Winfield] attempted to catch up but lost sight of him,” Smith said.
About a minute after Winfield saw him, Giddings entered the alley, where his four-door foreign car apparently left the roadway, crashed into vegetation, struck another group of trees and landed perpendicular to the alley in some brush, Smith said.
Smith said Giddings had at least four outstanding arrest warrants, including two felony warrants — one of which was for allegedly attempting to elude law enforcement personnel.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
