DUNGENESS — A 23-year-old Sequim man died of severe head injuries he sustained in a single-car crash early Tuesday morning.
Jeremy Columbus died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after he was ejected from his vehicle, said Chief Deputy Ron Cameron with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, with excessive speed in a 35-mph zone and alcohol as factors in the cause, Cameron said.
The late-model Subaru Outback was northbound at about 1:35 a.m. on Sequim-Dungeness Way about a half-mile south of East Anderson Road near Friendly Lane when it swerved left into the southbound lane and rolled off the road onto its side, Cameron said.
Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Ley, who investigated the crash, said Columbus was ejected from the car, which came to rest on its side.
Off-duty volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician Del Caryl, a longtime volunteer who lives nearby, was first on the scene, said Peter Loeb, Clallam County Fire District No. 3 spokesman.
Medics “found [Columbus] unconscious and unresponsive with severe head injuries, so they called [Airlift Northwest],” Loeb said, adding that Columbus was found about 10 feet from the vehicle.
“People saw a baby seat in back of car, and they quickly looked around” but found no other victim, Loeb said.
A black Labrador retriever dog, found at the scene and possibly inside the vehicle in the crash, was uninjured, Cameron said.
Deputies Ley, Ryan Keith and Ken Oien responded to the scene.
Loeb said volunteer Dungeness station paramedics arrived at the site of the crash about six minutes after it was reported.
Columbus was transported by ambulance to the helipad on North Fifth Avenue, where he was picked up and flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The car was destroyed, and it does not appear that the seat belt was in use, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
