By Scott Gutierrez and Brad Wong
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
SEATTLE — A Seattle police officer died Tuesday after being seriously injured in a collision with another vehicle on Interstate 5, just south of Boeing Access Road, the Seattle police and Washington State Patrol reported.
The 26-year-old officer was driving north in his personal vehicle when he made an abrupt lane change while trying to exit the freeway at Boeing Access Road, the Washington State Patrol said.
His vehicle struck a barrel used as a barrier. Spinning, it came to a rest on the ramp, where a Toyota pickup broadsided it, State Patrol Sgt. Doug Geltz said.
David Ewing, a Tukwila Fire Department battalion chief, responded to the scene, and said he saw the man’s Seattle police credentials.
The officer was taken to Harborview Medical Center, and the pickup driver went to Valley Medical Center. Neither was identified.
The victim was sworn in as a Seattle police officer Aug. 17, 2007, said Sgt. Rich O’Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild.
He completed the state’s basic law enforcement academy and had started post-academy training with the police department, police spokeswoman Debra Brown said.
He was headed to a Seattle police training facility in the 2200 block of Airport Way South when the crash happened, she said.
The man was married with a young daughter, Brown said. The crash was reported just before 7 a.m. and partially blocked the highway for more than two hours. State Patrol detectives are investigating.
“It’s tragic — just a young, aspiring officer with so much hope,” O’Neill said. “Unfortunately, our last few officers who have been killed have died the same way.”
Officers Joselito Barber, 26, and Beth Nowak, 30. Barber died Aug. 13, 2006 when a speeding vehicle ran a red light and hit his patrol car. A repeat car thief ran into Nowak’s personal car, as she was driving to work killing her Nov. 13. Officer Tom Springer also died in August in an off-duty motorcycle crash.
Copyright 2007 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer