By MICHELLE BEAHM
mbeahm@soundpublishing.com
KINGSTON — The driver of a car killed in a head-on collision on March 11 at Highway 104 and Parcells Road has been identified.
The driver was Benjamin MacQueen, 28, of Sequim, the Washington State Patrol reported March 12. MacQueen was declared dead at the scene. His next of kin were notified by the Kitsap County Coroner.
Multiple IDs were found on MacQueen, Trooper Russ Winger reported earlier in the day.
The collision occurred at about 7:47 p.m. According to State Patrol, a 1994 Jeep Cherokee driven by James Norberg, 53, of Kingston was eastbound on 104 approaching Parcells Road, followed by another motorist who witnessed the crash. MacQueen was driving a 1994 Toyota Camry westbound on 104, crossed the center line at the intersection struck Norberg’s vehicle head-on.
Both vehicles rotated counterclockwise. Norberg’s vehicle came to rest on the eastbound shoulder; MacQueen’s vehicle came to rest in the center of the intersection.
Michele Laboda of North Kitsap Fire & Rescue said personnel had to use hydraulic extrication equipment in order to free Norberg and his 14-year-old passenger from their car.
The 14-year-old was airlifted from Wolfle Elementary School to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with multi-system trauma. Laboda said Norberg was going to be airlifted to Harborview as well, but the helicopter was delayed. Poulsbo Fire Department paramedics transported him to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton; he was transferred to Harborview later that night.
Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg said Norberg and the teen were in the Intensive Care Unit in serious but stable condition, as of morning March 12. The teenager’s condition was improving and she was expected to be moved soon out of ICU, Gregg said.
The cause of the crash was under investigation on March 11, but Winger said the initial cause is “crossing the center line.” He added that there was potential for drugs or alcohol being involved, but that won’t be known until after an autopsy and toxicology are completed.
The crash is believed to be the third fatal crash in Kitsap this year as of March 11.
Three Olympic High School students were killed in a single-car rollover crash on Seabeck-Holly Road NW on Jan. 11. The 17-year-old driver received a 45- to 108-week sentence; he admitted driving too fast and having smoked marijuana earlier that day.
On March 11, an Aberdeen woman died in Tacoma General Hospital from injuries sustained when her car crashed March 5 on Burley-Olalla Road.
