SHINE — A six-vehicle chain reaction wreck on state Highway 104 on Wednesday injured two drivers while closing the busy road for four and a half hours, according to the State Patrol.
The 9:50 a.m. crash — on the west side of the Hood Canal bridge at milepost 13 by Garten Road — occurred as the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic for a Navy ship crossing, the State Patrol said in a memo.
The cause of the wreck was following too closely, troopers said.
The State Patrol report is as follows:
Rigoberto Velazquez Penagos, 39, of Seattle, who was driving a box truck eastbound, failed to stop in time and locked up his brakes as he plowed into the last of five vehicles stopped for the drawbridge opening, starting a chain-reaction collision.
The vehicle Velazquez Penagos hit was a Ford F250 truck being driven by Jay E. Stinson, 71, of Kodiak, Alaska.
Both Velazquez Penagos and Stinson were taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, troopers said. Their conditions were not available Wednesday afternoon.
Velazquez Penagos was cited for second-degree negligent driving.
Not injured were Sandra K. Flaherty, 89, of Port Ludlow, who was in the car ahead of Stinson’s; Diane L. Deberry, 61, of Shoreline, in the jeep ahead of Flaherty’s; or Ron R. Austin, 51, of Port Townsend, who was driving the lead vehicle, a pickup.
All those involved were wearing seat belts.
No drugs or alcohol were involved in the collision, troopers said.
All vehicles were towed from the wreck except for Deberry’s and Austin’s. Those were driven from the scene.
Highway 104 adjacent the Hood Canal Bridge was closed Wednesday until 2:22 p.m.
During the closure, officers set up a detour around Paradise Bay Road to Oak Bay Road that channeled drivers onto state Highway 19 and back onto 104.
