Press Release Stories

A single-vehicle traffic accident on US Highway 101 at milepost 111 north of Humptulips resulted in the death of a 29 year old Humptulips woman on Tuesday evening. 

According to the Washington State Patrol report, they were dispatched to this accident on December 17th at 7:06 pm.  However, according to radio traffic, there was indications that the accident occurred earlier and was found by another person at the time of dispatch and call. 

A silver 2012 Volkswagon Jetta was traveling northbound on 101 the vehicle left the road to the right, traveled approximately 200 feet where it vaulted over a ravine and struck an embankment.

The report does state that the driver was wearing a seatbelt and unknown if anything else was involved. 

According to a Washington State Patrol report a pedestrian walking along the fog line in Mason County at the SR 108 to US 101 was killed Sunday morning November 24th.  

The pedestrian (not identified) a 42-year-old Tenino man had been walking southbound on US 101 by State Route 101 when he was struck by a 2002 Toyota Tundra driven by a 49-year-old man from Grapeview.  

The roadway was closed for about 3 hours.  No charges are pending and it is unknown if the pedestrian was under any influence of drugs or alcohol.  

The Utah Highway Patrol has released the name of the man who died after a single-vehicle rollover east of Morgan Utah, which is south of Odgen on Monday morning.

Officials have identified the man as Thomas L Rasmussen, 64, of Hoquiam, Washington.

An earlier news release from UHP said the crash occurred on eastbound Interstate 84 at mile marker 106 just after 8:20 a.m.

“The vehicle went off the road to the left, overcorrected to the right and rolled off the side of the roadway,” the news release said. “There were two occupants; one male, one female. The male was ejected and sustained serious injuries. The male died later at the hospital.”

The female sustained minor injuries.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The Washington State Patrol says that there is a new attempt at getting your information and your money in the form of a bomb threat and that some of the threats being made are using spoofed numbers coming from police agencies including the Washington State Patrol itself.  

On 11/19/19 at about 1:24 a.m. Hoquiam Police officer Don Grossi was stopped in the 400 block of Karr Avenue speaking to a citizen.  A 2016 Subaru Crosstrek was traveling in the opposite direction.  The Subaru struck a parked vehicle and then continued eastbound, striking the rear quarter panel of the fully marked Hoquiam Police vehicle.  The driver did not stop and continued driving from the scene, turning northbound onto Cleveland Street. 

On 12-14-19 at 6:03 AM, Aberdeen Police Officers were dispatched to a report of a vehicle that drove into a house and knocked down a power pole in the area of the 500 block of North Alder Street.

Officers arrived a short time later and determined a 59 year old Hoquiam resident lost control of her Isuzu Trooper and left the roadway. The vehicle sheared off a city street light and continued through a yard and struck a home in that block. The house and vehicle sustained extensive damage. The residence was occupied, however, no one was in the room that was struck and no one was injured.

The driver potentially sustained minor injuries and was transported to the hospital for treatment. Based on the driver’s behavior, an Aberdeen Police Officer sought a search warrant for the driver’s blood and executed the warrant at the hospital. The driver was issued a citation for driving under the influence.

According to the Pacific County Sheriffs Office, an earlier argument in Ocean Park on Thursday, November 7th turned into an incident with one person shot being said in self-defense where officers found several inconsistencies with that claim. 

On 12/13/19 at just after 4 p.m. Hoquiam Police officers were dispatched to a report of a log truck which had lost its load in the 400 block of 22nd Street.

When officers arrived, they learned a block truck towing a trailer loaded with logs was turning southbound from Simpson Avenue onto 22nd Street when an equipment failure caused the bunks holding the logs to separate from the trailer. The logs and bunks fell from the trailer onto the roadway and into a nearby yard. Some of the logs struck a power pole.

Fortunately, there were no injuries. Grays Harbor PUD responded to the scene and inspected the pole. The power pole was not damaged but some power lines had to be re-secured.

A trooper from the Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement division responded to the scene. The operator of the truck called for equipment and the roadway was cleared.

The incident was turned over to the Washington State Patrol for further investigation and to take any necessary enforcement action.

The Aberdeen Police Department released an official statement in regards to the Saturday evening shots fired call on Willow Street.  

A 40-year-old Aberdeen man was booked into the Aberdeen Jail Saturday night after shooting at a 37-year old Aberdeen male. 

Just before 11:30 PM Aberdeen officers responded to a residence in the 500 block of Willow St. for a report of shots being fired. 

The 40-year old reported to Harbor Dispatch that he shot at the younger man during an alleged physical altercation.  Arriving officers detained both men at the residence, where they both reside.  Shortly thereafter the 40-year old was taken into custody and booked into at APD for First Degree Assault/Domestic Violence after the initial investigation revealed the suspect fired two shots. 

Nobody in the residence or nearby residences were struck by the discharged rounds.  The initial investigation indicated intoxication was a contributing factor to the events that occurred in the residence.

  Detectives responded and were at the home until around 7 AM this morning.  The criminal investigation is continuing.

No injuries were reported and a suspect is in custody this morning after a domestic argument outside of McCleary took place on the evening of October 30th.  The suspect reportedly had been in an argument with family and shots were fired as he shot at a vehicle on the property.

Here is more on this from Undersheriff Brad Johansson

On October 30th at approximately 5:50 PM the sheriff’s office responded to a report of a domestic dispute in the 200 boxes of Sand Creek Road.

It was reported that a male suspect may have fired a gun at the victims who were sitting in a vehicle at the location. The victims were not injured and left the area.

Neighbors in the area had been evacuated while law enforcement was attempting to locate the suspect. The suspect's location was unknown. The regional Critical Response Unit responded to the scene to assist.

At approximately 1:15 AM the suspect surrendered to the Crisis Response Unit.

The unit consists of law enforcement from Aberdeen Pd, Hoquiam PD, Montesano PD, Cosmopolis PD and the Grays Harbor Sheriffs Office. Washington State Patrol Troopers and the WSP aviation unit assisted in the investigation as well.

The suspect was booked into the Grays Harbor County jail for Assault 1st Domestic Violence.

Thursday evening around 8:49 pm there was a report of trees down on State Route 109 near Breckenridge Drive partially blocking the roadway.  According to a Washington State Patrol report a citizen (pedestrian out of their own vehicle) helping direct traffic around the trees to avoid a collision, a 30-year-old Ocean Shores man who was struck by a vehicle that had stopped and had been struck by another vehicle that did failed to stop for traffic. 

A 56-year-old Ocean Shores woman driving a 208 Honda Rav had stopped for the fallen tree and traffic control being performed by the pedestrian when she was struck from behind by a 2018 Ford Edge driven by a 61-year-old Ocean Shores woman. 

The report states that the Ford Edge, 61-year-old Ocean Shores Woman as driving too fast for conditions and as a result of hitting the stopped vehicle the pedestrian was struck by the stopped vehicle. 

The two drivers in the vehicles were not injured however the pedestrian was taken to Community Hospital for his injuries, injuries that we have been told were fairly severe. 

The roadway was either fully blocked or partially blocked with alternating traffic for approximately 3
Hours.

One person was transported to Community Hospital after a traffic accident on State Route 105 and Fairmont Ave on Monday evening around 5:32pm.

According to a Washington State Patrol report a grey 1998 Toyota Tacoma was traveling northbound on SR 105 driven by a 40-year-old Moclips man.  The driver turned onto Fairmont Ave to turn around and was backing up when a second vehicle traveling south on 105 a 1997 Ford Ranger driven by a 65-year-old Grayland woman struck the backing up vehicle that was backing up into the southbound lanes of 105.

The 65-year-old woman was transported to Community Hospital for her injuries, the driver of the Toyota Tacoma cited for Backing up into traffic as the cause of the accident. 

The suspect in the officer-involved shooting that occurred on 10-24-19 in Aberdeen, Washington was released from Grays Harbor Community Hospital after being treated for his injuries as a result of the shooting.

The suspect, Gary Peterson was arrested on assault 2nd degree and hit and run of an attended vehicle.

Peterson has a non-extraditable felony warrant out of Oregon for parole violations on the charges of assault 3rd degree and robbery 3rd degree.

Peterson is expected to make a preliminary appearance in court on 10-30-19.

Information on the officers' side of the investigation has not been released.

A 37-year old Olympia man died in a single vehicle fatality motor vehicle collision in Aberdeen just before 9 PM Monday evening. At 8:47 PM Aberdeen Police officers were dispatched to a collision in the parking lot that serves Robert Gray Elementary and Stewart Field, on B St. at Third Ave. Initial reports were that a vehicle had crashed into the boulders that separate the raised entry off B St. from the lower parking lot. Officers initially were advised the collision may be a hit and run, as there was nobody in the 1993 Ford Taurus, which had come to rest near the center of the lot. When responding officers arrived, the owner/driver was located with severe critical injuries. There were no other passengers in the vehicle.

According to a Washington State Patrol report the accident which occurred on December 2nd, 2019 at 10:27 am on US-101 at Walker Road was due to failure to slow for a turning vehicle and read ended it.  

The log truck a 2006 Peterbilt log truck with its trailers empty and bunked driven by a 29-year-old Elma man and a white 1984 Chevy Blazer driven by a 78-year-old Hoquiam man were both on US-101 northbound at Walker Road when the blazer slowed to make a left hand turn onto Walker Road.  The log truck failed to slow down colliding with the blazer. 

The driver of the blazer was transported to Community Hospital for undisclosed injuries.

Grays Harbor County Sheriff Undersheriff Brad Johansson has an update for us in regards to the officer-involved Shooting in Aberdeen Thursday, October 24th.  

He says that The Aberdeen Police department was dispatched to a hit and run that occurred at the QMart convenience store on East Market Street.

Initial reports are an Aberdeen PD officer responded and attempted to contact a male subject in the 300 boxes of East Market Street who was possibly involved in the hit and run.

It was reported the male suspect was armed with a knife and shots were fired by the police.

The male suspect was injured in the shooting and was transported to the hospital.

The Aberdeen Police Department requested assistance from the Region 3 Sheriff’s Office Critical Incident Investigation Team to investigate the incident.

The team is comprised of detectives from Mason, Thurston, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties. More details will be released as they become available.

We expect a full press release out on this incident early this morning but in the meantime, here is what we have 

Police arrested a man at an Aberdeen home last night after terminating a high-speed pursuit that began in Hoquiam. Sgt Jeff Salstrom said it began just before 11 PM Wednesday night. An officer attempted to stop a 1990 Ford Ranger occupied by two people in West Hoquiam for a traffic violation. The truck sped down Simpson Avenue heading east, toward Aberdeen, crossing a block South to Aberdeen Avenue for a portion of the chase. Salstrom said when the vehicle reached North Park Street in Aberdeen it travelled a block further and turned South the wrong way on US Highay 101 at North Alder Street. The speed and wrong way nature of the chase caused police to terminate their pursuit.

A short time later a Sergent from the Aberdeen Police Department located the vehicle abandoned in an alley in the 100 block of South Lincoln Street. Aberdeen Police K9 tracked two suspects to two nearby homes where one man was arrested on an outstanding warrant from the Department of Corrections. Salstrom said that the vehicle was impounded and the investigation continues.

We just received an update on what appears to be a domestic-related shooting outside of McCleary on Wednesday evening from the Grays Harbor County Sheriffs Office.  Here is what Undersheriff Brad Johansson had to say.