PORT TOWNSEND — About 1,155 residential customers lost electricity Saturday after a sport utility vehicle struck a utility pole on Sheridan Avenue.
At about 11 p.m., a 1999 Chevrolet SUV driven by Chellah Mac Calla, 31, of Port Townsend, with three passengers ran into the pole in the northbound lane of Sheridan Avenue near 25th Street.
The pole was uprooted and dragged about 25 feet, then rested at a 45-degree angle, supported by the electrical wires, according to Port Townsend Police Sgt. Ed Green.
According to State Trooper Matt Phillips, who was called in to assist, Mac Calla went off the road and struck the pole, then stopped nearby.
She then drove around the pole, up to Hastings Avenue, and turned left, but went across a ditch and ended up in a field.
Mac Calla and the three passengers fled, but she returned a few minutes later alone and surrendered to police.
Mac Calla was taken to Jefferson Healthcare for treatment of minor injuries.
Driver arrested
After treatment, she was arrested for driving under the influence and taken to Jefferson County jail, where she was in custody Sunday night, according to Phillips.
The collision caused a power outage in the area.
After the pole was knocked over, at least four live wires were exposed, according to Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman Lindsey Walimaki.
PSE dispatched a three-man crew from Kitsap County. They picked up a replacement utility pole in Poulsbo and transported it to the scene of the accident.
In the meantime, PSE crews examined utility maps to determine if it was safe to dig for a new pole.
At 4:17 p.m., the power was shut off, and the pole was replaced.
Wires were reconnected, and power was restored at 7:38 p.m., Walimaki said.
Telephone and cable television wires were attached to a section of the old pole, so that section was left as is for the time being, appearing to be suspended among the newly strung wires.
The phone and cable companies were notified and will most likely reset the wires in the next few days, Walimaki said.
In the meantime, the section does not represent a safety hazard, she said.
Port Townsend Police handled the incident, with assistance at the scene from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and State Patrol.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
