Trooper, Two Others Injured When Driver From Shoreline Hits Patrol Car on I-405

A state trooper and two drivers suspected of driving while intoxicated were injured late Thursday night on Interstate 405 near Kirkland when one of the drivers ran into the officer’s car on the side of the freeway.

The trooper was reportedly thrown into the air by the impact, and one of the drivers trapped under his vehicle until being freed by rescue crews.

Trooper Michael Porter of Snoqualmie had pulled over one of the drivers, Gregory Jones, a 32-year-old man from Bellingham, and was about to place him under arrest when the second driver in an Acura ran into the trooper’s vehicle, the State Patrol reported. The trooper’s car then hit the Bellingham man’s BMW, which was shoved into the two men.

The second driver, Ketra Ashby, a 26-year-old woman from Shoreline, is also suspected of driving while intoxicated and was also injured. She is also under investigation for vehicular assault.

All three were taken to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, with the Shoreline woman suffering potentially serious injuries. Trooper Porter, 28, a two-year veteran of the patrol, was later released with leg injuries. The Bellingham man's injuries were not believed to be serious.

The crash occurred at about 11:45 p.m. Thursday along the northbound lanes of I-405 near State Route 520, apparently in Bellevue, but close to the Kirkland/Bellevue boundary.