A Puyallup man is facing a stack of felony and misdemeanor charges after Washington State Patrol troopers say he fled from them at 93 mph before crashing his car into a field near the Interstate 5 and State Route 18 interchange in Federal Way early Thursday morning. His 27-year-old passenger, a Federal Way woman, was hospitalized after the crash, and neither of them was wearing a seatbelt, according to the agency.
The crash happened at about 1 a.m. Thursday as the man was exiting northbound I-5 to eastbound SR 18, according to The News Tribune. Washington State Patrol Trooper Kameron Watts reported in a post on X that the driver fled from pursuing troopers before losing control and crashing into a field. The man was also hospitalized after the crash and was later booked into custody, per the same report.
Troopers say the man was driving 93 miles per hour, exceeding the posted 60-mile-per-hour speed limit by 33 mph, according to a Washington State Patrol news release cited by the outlet. He now faces charges including vehicular assault, eluding, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence, third-degree driving with a suspended or revoked license, and a violation tied to his ignition interlock device.
A Web of Felony Charges Under Washington Law
The vehicular assault charge alone carries serious weight under state law. Vehicular assault is a Class B felony under RCW 46.61.522, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, and a mandatory one-year license suspension when an impaired or reckless driver causes substantial bodily harm to another person.
The eluding charge adds its own exposure. Attempting to flee a pursuing patrol vehicle while driving recklessly is a Class C felony under RCW 46.61.024, carrying up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, and license revocation. On top of that, driving without a required ignition interlock device is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 46.20.740 that carries up to 364 days in jail — and Washington law requires that sentence to run consecutively with any DUI-related sentence, not concurrently.
Pursuit Policy Shift Set the Stage
Troopers were legally empowered to chase the fleeing vehicle under Washington's Initiative 2113, which took effect in June 2024 and restored officers' authority to pursue drivers under a reasonable-suspicion threshold. The change came after state troopers logged more than 8,000 incidents of drivers fleeing traffic stops under the stricter restrictions imposed in 2021.
The crash fits into a broader pattern the Washington Traffic Safety Commission has been tracking. Preliminary 2025 data showed 659 traffic deaths statewide, a 10.5% drop from 2024 and an 18% reduction from 2023's 33-year peak of 809 fatalities, according to the Mercer Island Reporter. Even with that decline, driver impairment was involved in 45% of the state's traffic fatalities last year, with alcohol present in 57% of those impaired-driving cases, followed by cannabis and methamphetamine. Excessive speed contributed to 189 traffic deaths in 2025, down from 250 the year before, the outlet reported.
Commute Snarled for Hours
The crash blocked the roadway for four hours and 28 minutes, snarling one of South King County's busiest freeway junctions during the early morning hours. The I-5 and SR 18 interchange near Federal Way has become a recurring flashpoint for severe crashes and multi-hour shutdowns, a pattern Hoodline has documented in past coverage of the corridor, including an overnight closure earlier this month after a Seattle woman died exiting a moving car on the same stretch of freeway.
It is the latest in a string of serious crashes along the corridor this year. Hoodline previously reported on a fatal morning crash at the same junction in June, and on an impaired driver facing vehicular assault and homicide charges near the connector in February. Court records were not detailed in available reporting, and it remains unclear whether the Puyallup man has entered a plea in the case.
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