Wrong-way driver causes crash on I-5, leaving two dead

CASTLE ROCK – Two drivers are dead, and another was sent to the hospital after a vehicle traveling the wrong way on Interstate 5 caused a Friday morning crash in Castle Rock, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The accident caused two other vehicles to also wreck, initially blocking all northbound lanes. Drivers were detoured around 6 a.m. at exit 48, and the left and center lanes opened around 7 a.m., according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The incident occurred around 2:45 a.m., near milepost 49.5, south of the Powell Road overpass, when a 22-year-old man, of an unknown location and driving a 2006 Ford Ranger, was headed south in the northbound lane and collided with a red Ford Escape, according to a Washington State Patrol press release.

The Escape was driven by a 41-year-old man from Tigard, Oregon. Both drivers were killed and troopers have not released their names.

A third vehicle, a 2014 silver Subaru Impreza driven by Kaulin W. Froebe, 22, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, struck the Escape, the press release reports. Froebe was transported to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center as a precaution.

The fourth vehicle, a 1996 black Honda Accord, driven by Jeremiah E. Heffley, 20, of Salem, Oregon, struck debris from the crash. He was able to stop near an off-ramp, states the press release.

The driver of the Ford Ranger reportedly was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and it’s unknown if the driver of the Ford Escape was wearing his.

The Ranger, Escape and Impreza were totaled, and the Honda had “reportable damage.”