PORT ANGELES — The driver of a station wagon suspected of causing an accident on U.S. Highway 101 on Wednesday that claimed three lives was arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide later that evening.
The driver, Michael John Jones, 48, of Port Angeles is accused of driving while impaired, said Trooper Brian George, a spokesman for Washington State Patrol.
“It was not even inattention,” George said.
“It was 100 percent preventable.”
As part of the investigation of vehicular homicide, Jones’ blood was drawn at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and will be sent to the state toxicology lab for processing, George said.
George said he did not know if Jones was under the influence of alcohol or another substance.
Three men riding in a pickup truck were killed in the three-vehicle chain-reaction collision on the highway east of Port Angeles on the east end of the Morse Creek Canyon “S” curve.
The victims were Ian Clayton Rolley, 45, of Olympia; Jeremy Clayton Rolley, 21, of Port Angeles; and Jonathan Jeffrey Brewer, 21, of Port Angeles, according to State Patrol.
Five people involved in the collisions, including Jones, were transported to Olympic Medical Center for minor injuries and evaluations, George said.