State Patrol: Spray painted lights caused two-vehicle wreck on state Highway 19 south of Port Townsend

Published 12:01 am Monday, November 10, 2014

PORT TOWNSEND — Spray painted lights are being blamed for a two-vehicle crash that sent a 24-year-old Port Townsend woman to Jefferson Healthcare with minor facial injuries Monday.

According to a news release, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue responded at roughly 11:15 a.m. to the accident at the intersection of state Highway 19 and Woodland Drive south of Port Townsend and found both vehicles partially blocking the northbound lane of the highway.

The wreck took place when Port Townsend resident Benjamin D. Killam, 18, was traveling south on the highway and stopped his 1991 Mazda MX-6 to turn left onto Woodland Drive, according to a State Patrol news release.

The Mazda was then struck from behind by a 2002 Ford F-150 pickup truck being driven by Theresa L. Giese.

According to the State Patrol, Giese failed to see Killam’s brake lights or turn signal because their housings had been spray painted black.

The State Patrol pointed to this as the cause of the wreck, and Killam was cited for defective equipment.

The pickup was sent into the ditch on the east side of the highway, and firefighters had to extricate Giese from the truck and transport her to the hospital.

Killam was uninjured, and there were no other occupants in either vehicle.

Killam and Giese were wearing seat belts.

Both vehicles were totalled and towed from the scene.