PORT ANGELES — A 35-year-old Port Angeles man was injured Saturday when the Subaru Impreza he was driving hit a barrier on Deer Park Road, went down an embankment and collided with a tree, Clallam County Fire District No. 2 officials said.
The driver, Jeremy A. Gradillas, was listed in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with a possible broken femur, Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Pieper said.
The Subaru was traveling southbound on Deer Park Road about 1.8 miles from U.S. Highway 101 when it struck a concrete abutment at the end of a guardrail, lost control and skidded down the embankment at about 2:30 a.m., Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief Dan Huff said.
There were no other people in the vehicle.
It took about three hours for Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue and Port Angeles Fire Department personnel to remove Gradillas from the mangled car.
Gradillas’ legs and feet were pinned between the center console and the frame of the vehicle. Crews used Jaws of Life hydraulic rescue tools to remove the driver.
“It was a fairly significant and difficult extraction,” Huff said later Saturday.
Gradillas remained conscious and alert throughout the ordeal, Huff said.
He was taken by ambulance to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles before he was transferred to Harborview.
“There was a suspicion of driver impairment,” Pieper said.
“A blood draw was done. He was not arrested due to injuries.”
The blood sample will be tested at a State Patrol crime lab.
Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue responded with one engine, two medic units, one command vehicle and nine personnel, Huff said.
Port Angeles Fire responded with one engine and three personnel.
Deputies were dispatched at 2:31 a.m., Pieper said. Fire crews cleared the scene at 5:13 a.m., Huff said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
