A Mukilteo woman who says she witnessed the Saturday crash that killed Bryon T. Monge, 30, of Everett called the scene tragic.
"There was a child seat in the back," said Jewels Clark, who recently moved to Mukilteo from Florida. "I thought, 'Oh, my God, he's somebody's daddy.' "
Monge died after his Chevrolet S10 left the roadway of northbound Interstate 5 to the right and struck a pillar at the Northeast 185th Avenue overpass just before 5:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The crash blocked the two right lanes of the freeway for several hours. Monge was the sole occupant of the pickup.
Clark said she was on her way home from work Saturday in the right lane when she saw Monge's Chevrolet S10 come quickly behind her, she said. Clark said she changed lanes because his pickup was coming behind her so quickly and getting too close for comfort.
Then Clark said she saw the Chevrolet on the shoulder "passing me like I was still," she said. Clark said her speed was about 62 mph -- she had set her cruise control, she said -- and she estimated he was going much faster than that.
Clark said she saw Monge try to regain control of his pickup, but he kept moving forward on the shoulder and grass until he struck the pillar of the overpass head on, she said.
While the sky was dreary, the roadway was dry at the time of the crash, she said.
She said contrary to earlier reports, the pickup did not strike the guardrail or rollover, but struck the pillar head on.
Clark said she stopped her car to help and found Monge still inside the extended cab of the car. Clark said she and another driver broke the passenger side window in an attempt to get to him, but that troopers at the scene informed her that he died.
"He's so young, and he's somebody's daddy. And I know he's a working man, because the back of his pickup was full of tools," she said.
"It's just tragic," she said.
