An Island County Sheriff’s deputy en route to a residential alarm on the night of Friday the 13th lost control of his police vehicle while traveling south on Highway 20 in the middle of Oak Harbor.
The deputy’s SUV jumped the curb, demolished a tree, knocked over a city light pole, rolled three times, crashed into a trash can and grazed the corner of the WorkSource building owned by George Churchill.
Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said the driver, Deputy Brent Durley, and a reserve deputy in the passenger seat were unharmed in the 11 p.m. accident. As a precaution, they were taken to Whidbey General Hospital.
Durley has been with the Island County Sheriff’s Office for a little more than three years, Brown said.
The State Patrol is currently investigating the incident. After the state’s investigation, Brown said the Island County Sheriff’s Office will take the crash details through the Collision Review Board to analyze the “totality of the circumstances.”
The review board will decide what, if anything, went wrong and if any disciplinary measures are needed.
According to Sheriff Brown, deputies have the ability to go through intersections and stop signs without stopping, but must use lights and sirens while en route to emergency calls, cautioning that officers use “extreme heavy due care consideration” while doing so.