SEQUIM – A patrol car driven by a Sequim police officer collided with an SUV driven by a Sequim resident while the officer tried to stop a speeding vehicle on Spruce Street.
Nobody was injured in the Sunday collision.
Officer Rick Larson, 32, was driving the 2004 Ford Crown Victoria patrol car west on Spruce with his emergency lights flashing while following a car that was allegedly speeding at about 2 p.m.
Bernice E. Metz, 72, driving a 1999 Ford Explorer southbound on Second Avenue stopped at a stop sign and then continued through the intersection of Spruce and Second Avenue, according to a written report from the Washington State Patrol.
The two vehicles collided in the intersection, and Larson struck a light pole.
The intersection was blocked for several hours.
Neither alcohol nor drugs were a factor, and both people were wearing seat belts at the time of the collision, troopers reported.
Metz’s SUV suffered about $3,000 worth of damage, but was able to be driven from the scene.
The police patrol car had about $10,000 in damage and was towed.
The State Patrol will investigate the cause of the wreck and whether any citations will be issued, because an outside agency investigates collisions which involve a police officer, according to the Sequim Police Department.
An internal investigation is also under way by the Police Department.
