PORT HADLOCK — A member of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has been sent to a Seattle hospital with serious injuries sustained while trying to remove a vehicle from the side of the road.
Capt. Mike Stringer was injured Sunday night. He is in stable condition but still recovering from his injuries at Harborview Medical Center, according to Sheriff Dave Stanko.
Stringer, along with other deputies, responded to a non-injury car crash at the intersection of Old Fort Townsend Road and Otto Street on Sunday night just before 5:30.
One of the vehicles involved had driven off the road, striking and severing one of two guide wires that anchored a power pole to the ground. The wire was attached to a roughly 4-foot steel rod, which had been pinned under the vehicle and was under extreme tension.
According to Stanko, the rod was not visible and Stringer did not know it was pinned under the car.
Stringer was assisting a tow truck in the removal of the vehicle. He pushed from the front while the tow truck operator attempted to pull the car out of the soft dirt on the shoulder of the road.
When the vehicle was pulled backward off of the steel rod, the rod sprung back up and hit Stringer in the face and chest, Stanko said.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue responded to the scene and paramedics were able to stabilize Stringer and transport him to Jefferson County International Airport where he was airlifted by an Airlift Northwest helicopter to Harborview.
“I want to thank EJFR [East Jefferson Fire-Rescue] Chief Gordon Pomeroy and his staff for their stellar service to help one of our deputies,” said Stanko in statement released Monday.
“In our rural community we must work together to send our deputies, police officers and firefighters home safe to their families. My primary goal is to protect our community and send every deputy home safe each night.”
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Jefferson County Editor/
