PORT ANGELES — One person was killed and three others were injured in a single-car crash early Saturday morning on Laird Road.
The driver of the vehicle, 21-year-old Nicholas Baxley of Port Angeles, was arrested on investigation of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, Clallam County Sheriff’s Detective Dave Ellefson said.
The early morning crash killed a 21-year-old Port Angeles woman, Stephanie Cox, and sent 23-year-old Darcy Hylton to a Seattle hospital with internal injuries.
Hylton, also of Port Angeles, was listed in serious condition Saturday evening at Harborview Medical Center.
Another passenger, 24-year-old Jason Tupuola of Port Angeles, was treated at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and released, a nursing supervisor said.
Baxley was also treated at the hospital before being taken to the Clallam County jail, said Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Benedict.
Early morning crash
The crash happened at about 6 a.m. Saturday on Laird Road near Power Plant Road, just west of Port Angeles.
Ellefson said the Mustang was traveling at high speed northbound when Baxley lost control.
The car slid off the west side of the road, striking some trees and several fenceposts before coming to rest just off the roadway with severe damage to the right side.
Cox, who was riding in the front passenger seat, was found dead at the scene.
A passer-by called 9-1-1 by cell phone and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Clallam County Fire District No. 2 medics arrived.
Cans of beer
Investigators found some full cans of beer inside the 2003 Ford Mustang, and they suspect that Baxley had been drinking, Benedict said.
The four friends had been at a house party on Lower Elwha Road, about a mile from the crash scene, that morning and had apparently left to get cigarettes, Benedict said.
They were on their way back to the party when the crash happened, he said.