PORT ANGELES — An 8-year-old child from Port Angeles died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after a two-car wreck on state Highway 112 near Elwha River Road west of Port Angeles.
The State Patrol said Wednesday that the boy died of injuries sustained in the Tuesday wreck.
His identity has not been released.
The cause of the wreck was “driver inattention,” according to the State Patrol, which said charges are pending against Chandra Erickson, 28, of Port Angeles.
Troopers said Erickson was driving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee eastbound on Highway 112 at 3:36 p.m. and didn’t see that a 2007 Ford Taurus driven by Chelsea Palmer, 31, of Port Angeles had stopped at Elwha River Road to make a left turn.
Erickson’s vehicle collided with the rear of Palmer’s, sending it spinning counterclockwise. Palmer’s car came to rest in the westbound lane, while Erickson’s stopped in the eastbound lane.
The 8-year-old boy was taken by ambulance to William R. Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles and then flown by helicopter to Harborview, said Fire Chief Sam Phillips of Clallam County Fire District No. 2.
The boy was a passenger in the Taurus. Both of the drivers and a 6-year-old boy, also not identified, who was a passenger in the Cherokee, were not injured.
Both children were in child safety seats and both adults were wearing seat belts, the State Patrol said.
No drugs or alcohol were involved, troopers said.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
