Drunk driving fisherman hits car near trooper in Pasco
An accused drunk driver is in jail after clipping a car on Interstate 182 and then driving off in front of a state trooper.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Daniel Munder was finishing with a traffic stop on the interstate near Highway 395 shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday, when he spotted debris flying across the westbound lanes, said Trooper Sarah Clasen.
As he started in the direction, other drivers started pointing him toward the car and truck involved in the crash. A short distance later, he came across the woman whose car was hit.
She pointed him in the direction of the pickup that crashed into the rear of her car.
Munder stopped the pickup’s driver a short while later. The Pasco man told troopers that he had gone fishing that morning.
His blood-alcohol level was 2.5 times the legal limit of 0.08, and he was having trouble standing, Clasen said.
The driver was booked into the Franklin County jail.
Washington and 10 other western states plan extra patrols this long holiday weekend looking for drunk drivers during the New Year’s celebrations.