Pickup leaves trail of destruction on I-5 near Bellingham

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A pickup truck driver is in the hospital after he slammed into a car on Interstate 5, accelerated, veered off the freeway, crashed through a fence and rolled his pickup several times before coming to rest on a frontage road, the Washington State Patrol reported.

A case of beer was found in the man's pickup when troopers arrived.

The incident began at about 2:30 p.m. when a Chevrolet 1500 pickup driven by a 62-year-old Ferndale man was spotted weaving erratically by witnesses as it headed north on I-5 about three miles north of Bellingham.

The pickup then slammed into the rear of a Lexus passenger car being driven by a 69-year-old Blaine woman. The pickup went around the Lexus, accelerated and continued north without stopping.

A little farther up the highway, the pickup veered off the pavement to the right, crashed through a fence and rolled several times. The pickup came to rest on Old Pacific Highway next to I-5.

State troopers and medics arrived on scene soon afterward, and the man was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Bellingham. The extent of his injuries was not immediately known.

Due to the man's erratic driving and the case of beer found in his truck, troopers are investigating whether he was impaired at the time of the crash.

The woman who was driving the Lexus was not injured.