Man injured in high-speed crash

A car that crashed and flipped over several times near Triangle Road Wednesday night after speeds of up to 110 mph was driven by a man who may have been drunk.

A car that crashed and flipped over several times near Triangle Road Wednesday night after speeds of up to 110 mph was driven by a man who may have been drunk.

According to the Island County Sheriff’s office, Pedro Idiaquezmejia, 49, is being investigated for being under the influence when he crashed the 1994 Honda Accord he was driving on Langley Road.

At about 10:48 p.m., Idiaquezmejia, a Nicaraguan national, was driving toward Langley after he and his passenger, Eric Sawtell, 21, had allegedly purchased beer at a Clinton convenience store. In a statement taken after the accident, Sawtell told a sheriff’s deputy that he’d asked Idiaquezmejia to slow down from 110 mph to a legal speed. Sawtell said Idiaquezmejia slowed the car by downshifting, causing sudden compression braking and sending the car into a 418-foot skid that ended near Triangle Road.

Idiaquezmejia, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was severely injured in the crash. He was transported by helicopter to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. Sawtell, who was wearing a seatbelt, suffered only minor injuries in the rollover accident.

The accident is still under investigation due to a number of factors. The sheriff’s office said Thursday that Idiaquezmejia does not seem to hold a driver’s license of any kind. Investigators are also trying to find out if Idiaquezmejia was indeed driving. Idiaquezmejia and Sawtell both allege they were passengers at the time of the accident. Sawtell has a suspended driver’s license.

The accident is also being investigated as a DUI. The sheriff’s office did not have a blood alcohol level figure available this week for either man involved in the accident.

The sheriff’s office is also trying to determine how fast the car was traveling. While the accident was “definitely a high speed situation,” said investigating Deputy Scott Davis, the agency has not determined how high that speed actually was.

The Honda Accord, which was found to belong to a third party, was totaled in the crash. Also damaged was a private road sign on Triangle Road.

Idiaquezmejia was listed as being in satisfactory condition at Harborview on Friday. He is being treated for a leg injury.

The crash was the second on Langley Road that day. At about 5 p.m. Wednesday, another man suffered minor injuries when he drove his car off the road and into the woods.