Four Fair-Goers Die In Puyallup Crash -- Victims Were From Grays Harbor County
Four people from Grays Harbor County were injured fatally in a traffic accident in Puyallup on Saturday night as they returned from a day at the Western Washington Fair.
Two men and two women were thrown from the car when it was hit by another vehicle at an intersection, Puyallup police said.
The second car may have been racing, officers said.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office identified two of the dead as Gary Stoken, 27, of Hoquiam, and Darrin Grube, 27, of Aberdeen.
The other two people killed were Cori Grube, Darrin Grube's wife, and her twin sister, Lori Cornwell, 26, of Hoquiam.
Two others in the car, including the driver, were injured, but their injuries apparently were minimized because the airbags deployed in their 1997 Nissan Sentra, said Puyallup police Sgt. Roger Cox.
One of them, a 26-year-old man from Hoquiam, was in stable condition today at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup. A woman, whose name and address were not available, was treated and released at the same hospital.
The two people in the second car, a 1991 Nissan Maxima, were treated for injuries at Good Samaritan then released. Their names and addresses or injuries were not available yesterday. It was unknown if they were wearing seat belts, police said.
Puyallup police said it appeared that the people who were ejected were not wearing seat belts.
The collision occurred just a few minutes before midnight Saturday when the car with the six occupants, traveling south, made a left turn onto 23rd Avenue Southeast from South Meridian Street.
The second car, traveling north on Meridian, hit the other vehicle broadside, nearly splitting it in half, Cox said. There is a green arrow for left turns at the intersection, but it is unclear who had the right of way, he said.
Police were seeking the occupants of a white car that was seen traveling alongside the vehicle that was headed north, police said. "It is thought to have played a part in the accident, but the matter is still under investigation," according to Puyallup police Sgt. Joe Sokolik.
"Whether they were racing or harassing, we're not clear on that," Cox said.
Dave Birkland's phone message number is 206-515-5682. His e-mail address is: dbir-new@seatimes.com