A 35-year-old Steilacoom woman is facing charges after Washington State Patrol says she crashed her SUV on southbound Interstate 5 near DuPont Monday morning, then threatened two girls with a knife, stabbing one of them before two soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord stepped in to tackle and disarm her.
Troopers say the SUV struck the left-side barrier, swerved toward the right shoulder, then crossed back across the freeway and hit a semi-truck in the middle lane. The SUV struck the barrier again and rolled over. The semi-truck driver was not hurt.
A 9-year-old girl suffered multiple broken bones and a stab wound in the attack that followed the crash. A 15-year-old girl was also hospitalized but was not seriously injured. The woman’s relationship to the two girls has not been specified by authorities.
Witness Nathan Wilkinson told KING 5 he was driving to work when he came across the wreck and watched two men in military uniforms intervene.
“There’s people standing around, then all of a sudden there was a flash, and then the two soldiers jumped on a person. … I heard a scream at that time,” Wilkinson said. “I saw one of the soldiers had a knife in his hand that he had dislodged from the person they tackled.”
Wilkinson called 911 while bystanders helped hold the woman down. Photos from the scene reportedly showed someone being restrained on the ground.
Officers told KING 5 the woman had been driving erratically before the crash. She was taken to a hospital for evaluation, and investigators initially said she was being looked at for DUI, vehicular assault and first-degree assault.
By Tuesday morning, KING 5 reported she had been booked into the Pierce County Jail and was expected to face two counts of assault, vehicular assault and two counts of reckless endangerment. It was not immediately clear whether those charges had been formally filed.
The names of the soldiers involved have not been released. Wilkinson said he hopes they get recognition for what they did.
“They didn’t run away, they didn’t pass, drive on by. They stopped and helped,” he told KING 5.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by Washington State Patrol.
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