AUBURN, Wash. — A tragic three-vehicle crash shut down part of State Route 167 for nearly seven hours Thursday morning after a semi-truck failed to slow for traffic and crushed a car between two trucks.

The collision happened around 7:14 a.m. near the SR-18 interchange, where northbound traffic had come to a stop. According to the Washington State Patrol (WSP), a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia, driven by 25-year-old Kamalpreet Singh of Elk Grove, California, rear-ended a 2010 Mazda 3 that had stopped behind a 2016 Peterbilt truck.

The impact forced the Mazda underneath the rear of the Peterbilt. The Mazda’s engine compartment briefly caught fire but was quickly extinguished by responders.

The driver of the Mazda—29-year-old Robert B. Pearson of Bonney Lake—died at the scene. WSP confirmed that all drivers involved were wearing seatbelts. Neither Singh nor the Peterbilt driver was injured.

The crash shut down the northbound lanes for 6 hours and 48 minutes, with backups stretching for more than four miles as Incident Response, fire crews, and troopers worked the scene.

Singh was arrested for vehicular homicide, WSP said. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors, and the investigation into what caused the semi-truck driver to fail to slow is ongoing, according to the Washington State Patrol.

📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.