PORT ORCHARD — A woman was critically injured Feb. 24 after her motorcycle was struck from behind on Bethel Burley Road Southeast in South Kitsap by a driver suspected of being drunk.

According to Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson, the motorcyclist was traveling south at the 12400 block of Bethel Burley Road and had slowed to turn left into a private driveway. That’s when it was struck from behind by a 1991 Jeep Wrangler, driven by a 48-year-old man from Gig Harbor who also had a passenger in his vehicle.

The female cyclist, 29 years old and a South Kitsap resident, was piloting a 2015 Harley Davidson XL883 motorcyclist. The people involved in the collision have so far not been publically identified.

Wilson said an investigation so far has gathered evidence at the scene and statements from witnesses. After the collision, he said, the motorcycle traveled several more feet on its side before coming to a rest in the roadway.

Medics took the cyclist to Tacoma General Hospital, where she was being treated for critical injuries. The driver of the Jeep and his passenger were reportedly not injured.

“The investigation led traffic investigators to develop probable cause that the driver of the Jeep was impaired by alcoholic intoxicants,” Wilson said in the report.

The driver was arrested, processed and then booked into Kitsap County Jail on suspicion of vehicular assault. Bail was set at $50,000.

Responding to the accident scene were patrol deputies and traffic investigators from the sheriff’s office and troopers from the Washington State Patrol. An engine and medic units from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue also responded to the accident, which was reported to authorities at 6:13 p.m.

Anyone with additional information about the collision should call Deputy Steve Martin at 360-337-4634 or contact him at smartin@co.kitsap.wa.us.