A deadly combination of alcohol and speed is being blamed for a crash in Pierce County over the weekend that left two people dead. According to investigators, the single car accident claimed two lives when the vehicle lost control and spun off the road. The severity of the wreck has drawn attention to the dangers of impaired and high speed driving on local roads.
Deputies say the driver was behind the wheel of a Dodge Charger when the car lost control. The driver was reportedly trying to avoid a pedestrian at the moment the vehicle veered off course. The Charger then slammed into a tree with such force that the impact split the car in half, leaving little doubt about the violence of the collision.
The man who was driving and a woman who was riding in the back seat were both pronounced dead at the scene. A third person who was inside the car survived the crash but was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Authorities have not indicated whether that passenger is expected to recover from the injuries sustained in the wreck.
Witnesses described a vehicle moving at an extreme rate of speed just before the crash. One person who saw the car go by said it came down the road really fast, at what they estimated to be triple digit speeds, calling it the worst they had ever seen. The account underscored just how fast the car was traveling in the moments leading up to the deadly impact.
The response by deputies was captured on body camera footage from the sheriff's office. The recordings document what first responders found when they arrived at the scene of the wreck, where the wrecked Charger and the surrounding area told the story of a crash that few at the scene could easily forget.
Investigators also reported finding numerous empty alcohol containers inside the car. Combined with the high speed described by witnesses, the presence of those containers led authorities to point to alcohol and speed together as the central factors in a crash that turned deadly in a matter of seconds and claimed two lives in Pierce County.