PORT ANGELES — A 51-year-old Port Angeles woman was in a Seattle hospital Thursday after the pickup she was driving Wednesday smashed though a guardrail and crashed into a tree near Hamilton Elementary School.
Erin Disalvo was the sole occupant of a Chevrolet pickup that was reportedly traveling at speeds of 60 mph before it struck the guardrail at Eighth and L streets in west Port Angeles and continued westbound into the woods, Port Angeles police Sgt. Jason Viada said.
Disalvo’s condition was not available Thursday because she was in surgery at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
“She will be going to an intensive care unit,” Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.
After crashing through the guardrail, the pickup Disalvo was driving collided with one tree and came to a rest against a second tree on a precipitous bluff above a school portable building about 100 feet from the dead end on West Eighth Street.
“Undoubtedly there was some high velocity and momentum involved,” Viada said.
“One concerning thing about this collision is that is was on the southern edge of the school grounds at Hamilton school.”
The wreck occurred at about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Viada and Port Angeles police officer Whitney Fairbanks arrived to find Disalvo trapped inside the heavily damaged pickup.
A Port Angeles Fire Department crew used hydraulic extrication equipment to remove the woman from the vehicle.
Disalvo was treated by paramedics and taken to Olympic Medical Center at 5:19 p.m.
She was then flown to the Harborview trauma center, where she was listed in critical condition at about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Viada said.
Police on Thursday were still investigating the crash. Drugs or alcohol had not been ruled out, Viada said.
“Our intention at this point in the investigation is to either cite her or refer her for charges for reckless driving and driving while license suspended,” Viada said.
Disalvo’s license had been suspended for unpaid tickets, Viada said.
The pickup Disalvo was driving broke through the north side of the guardrail at Eight and L streets and stripped bark from trees.
Tire marks were left in a grove of bushes west of the guardrail.
The speed limit in the area on Eighth Street is 25 mph.
“In addition to being in a school ground, this is a very quiet, dead-end neighborhood street,” Viada said.
“It was bad. It could have been worse.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
