PORT ANGELES — Police continued on Thursday to investigate Wednesday’s three-car crash that ended with two vehicles inside a building at Front and Lincoln streets and blocked a downtown intersection.
“We’re looking at possible criminal charges,” said Sgt. Clay Rife of the Port Angeles Police Department, Thursday.
“We’re still gathering information. Witnesses are still coming forward,” Rife said. “We’re trying to piece things together.”
A black Lexus driven by Tracy Zoeller, 35, of Kingston was coming down the Front Street hill at a little before 2 p.m. Wednesday when it struck a yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser driven by Josiah Gaskill, 20, of Sequim as both attempted to turn onto Lincoln Street, according to police reports.
Zoeller told police that the accelerator on his Lexus had become stuck. Both vehicles slammed into the building that once housed Delaney’s Restaurant and Lounge, with the Lexus completely inside the structure and the Toyota almost entirely within it.
A third vehicle, a red Jeep Wrangler, was crossing the intersection at Lincoln and Front streets and collided with one of the other vehicles, police said. The Jeep was driven by Benjamin Kuns, 20, who is serving in the U.S. Coast Guard at the Port Angeles station, Rife said. Crystal Webster, 19, of Sequim was a passenger in the Toyota and was taken to Olympic Medical Center but as of Thursday was no longer there, Rife said.
Traffic coming into downtown Port Angeles was diverted to Peabody Street for about an hour and a half. Traffic on Front Street and the bottom of Lincoln Street reopened at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
