PORT HADLOCK — A California man who led Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies on a pursuit with speeds exceeding 130 mph was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center after he failed to negotiate a curve and was ejected from the vehicle.
The collision occurred just before 7 p.m. Wednesday on state Highway 116 near Oak Bay Road. State troopers also were on the scene, which blocked a nearly mile-long stretch of road for about six hours.
The road was reopened about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Jefferson County Undersheriff Andy Pernsteiner said.
Deputies suspect Zane Reggio, 38, a transient from Anaheim, Calif., of driving under the influence of alcohol, Pernsteiner said.
Charging papers forwarded to the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office may include felony eluding law enforcement officers along with driving with a suspended license and without a required ignition interlock device, Pernsteiner said.
Reggio was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit at the Seattle hospital Thursday, hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg said.
“We contacted people he had been with earlier in the day, and we learned he had been drinking heavily prior to this,” Pernsteiner said. “He was on his way to the store to go buy some marijuana.”
Pernsteiner said Reggio was staying with friends in Port Ludlow and drove one of their vehicles, a blue BMW, north to Port Hadlock.
A deputy clocked Reggio traveling 107 mph in a posted 50 mph zone, Pernsteiner said.
“[The deputy] spun on the car and tried to catch up to it, but the car was gone,” Pernsteiner said.
Ten minutes later, another deputy located the car near Hadlock Building Supply on Ness Corner Road, and that deputy clocked Reggio traveling 71 mph in a 25-mph zone, Pernsteiner said.
“[Reggio] turned immediately into the QFC at Hadlock, went through the gas pump area — and there were a lot of people around at the time — and he came out of there and headed down Oak Bay Road,” Pernsteiner said.
A third deputy spotted the vehicle at the four-way stop in Port Hadlock and followed Reggio on state Highway 116 with speeds in excess of 130 mph down the hill, Pernsteiner said.
Reggio lost control and went into the hillside at the curve. The vehicle came back down and skidded along the road at least 100 feet after Reggio was ejected, Pernsteiner said.
Deputies found a pipe in Reggio’s pocket along with marijuana, Pernsteiner said.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at [email protected].
