By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Five people were injured including a 75-year-old driver who crossed the centerline and four Lewis County residents in the other vehicle yesterday afternoon in Grays Harbor County.
Troopers were called just before 5 p.m. to the scene on state Route 101 about three miles north of Hoquiam, according to the Washington State Patrol. The highway was fully blocked for five hours.
Both drivers were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and both vehicles were totaled, according to the state patrol.
Christopher E. Lopez, 34, of Chehalis, was behind the wheel of a Dodge Dakota pickup headed southbound near milepost 91 when a northbound Dodge Durango crossed the centerline and they collided head on, the state patrol reports.
Lopez’s three passengers were transported by aid to Community Hospital, according to the investigating trooper. They are Seth M. Larsen, 24, of Morton; Clayton N. Larsen, 35, from Curtis; and Derek J. Watson, 30, Chehalis, according the state patrol.
The driver of the Dodge Durango, Eddie C. Valentine, 75, from Copalis Beach, was flown to Harborview.
The cause of the wreck is under investigation.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter