PORT TOWNSEND — A driver lost control of his vehicle Wednesday night at the Thomas Street roundabout, crashing through two signs and landing on a brick wall.
Emergency personnel received the call at 11:57 p.m. and arrived on the scene to find a four-wheel-drive Ford pickup on top of the wall and the truck’s front end destroyed.
The passenger, who was identified only as a 31-year-old Port Hadlock man, was unconscious when rescue personnel arrived. He regained consciousness but then lost it again, according to Port Townsend Police Sgt. Ed Green.
Green said the truck, which was traveling out of town, apparently hit the median strip and then headed straight ahead instead of traveling around the roundabout.
The driver was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extracted, after which he was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman Bill Beezley said the driver sustained a closed head injury and chest trauma in the accident.
Green said the cause of the crash was undetermined in terms of whether it was medically related or if the driver was intoxicated. He did, say, however that “the officers didn’t smell anything.”
Blood from the driver will be drawn at the hospital, and any charges, if applicable, will be filed based on those results, Green said.
Police personnel were on the scene for two hours, removing the truck and rerouting traffic, Green said.
A city road crew was dispatched to rebuild the brick wall and fix the signage. The repairs were completed by noon Thursday.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
