The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a crash possibly involving alcohol, marijuana use and excessive speed that resulted in the deaths of two passengers, injured two other passengers and left the driver in critical condition.
The driver, a 20-year-old Chehalis woman, was reportedly driving a 2010 Scion tC Coupe carrying four passengers at a high rate of speed on westbound Pacific Way in Longview when the vehicle slid through a curve on wet pavement, crossed an oncoming lane and left the roadway, according to a news release from the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
As the vehicle left the roadway, it went airborne and impacted a large tree on the passenger side, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office. The impact caused significant intrusion into the vehicle and fatally injured two occupants on the passenger side: Nicholas Krusmark, 21, who was in the front seat, and Clayton Carney, 23, who was in the back seat. Both were from Longview.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s deputies and Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue responded to the scene after Cowlitz 911 received reports of the crash at approximately 12:45 a.m. on May 8.
Krusmark and Carney were pronounced dead at the scene.
The other two passengers in the vehicle, both 20 years old and from Longview, were transported to St. John Medical Center for treatment and one was later transferred to Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
The driver, who was not identified by the sheriff’s office, was transported via LifeFlight to Southwest Medical Center in critical condition.
The driver and two passengers are expected to survive, according to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
