Two killed, six injured in separate collisions in Kitsap

POULSBO — Two Kitsap residents were killed in separate vehicle collisions Dec. 18 and 21, and five people were injured in another collision on Highway 3 near Pioneer Way.

One of those killed was a 20-year-old Bremerton woman whose 6-month-old daughter was also in the car but was uninjured.

Washington State Patrol reported that Stephen H. Kotts, 70, of Poulsbo was killed when his 2015 Jeep Wrangler and a 2000 Freightliner box truck collided at 11:45 a.m. in the intersection of Seabold Road and Highway 305. The driver of the box truck, identified as Morgan H. Raven, 26, of Bremerton, was injured and taken by aid unit to Harrison Medical Center. Kotts was declared dead at the scene.

According to state patrol, Raven was driving southbound on 305 approaching Seabold Road; Kotts was driving eastbound on Seabold Road and turned left onto Highway 305. The collision occurred in the southbound lane. The cause is under investigation but no charges are expected, state patrol reported.

At 6:26 p.m. Dec. 18 on Highway 3 less than a mile north of Allyn, Vanessa M. Lopez of Bremerton was fatally injured when she apparently lost control of her 2005 Chrysler Sebring sedan while driving in the southbound lane. Her car crossed the northbound lane and struck a tree. She was declared dead at Harrison Medical Center. Her daughter, Julianna Lopez-Twidwell, 6 months, was not injured, state patrol reported. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

At 11:35 a.m. Dec. 21, four miles north of Poulsbo, five people were injured in a collision involving two trucks and a car. The collision is under investigation; charges are pending, according to state patrol.

A 2000 Freightliner tractor-trailer was headed southbound on Highway 3 approaching Pioneer Way and was unable to stop for vehicles stopped at the light, state patrol reported. The tractor-trailer struck a 2005 Dodge Caravan, which was pushed into the rear of a 2009 Sterling tractor-trailer.

All people in the Dodge Caravan were reported injured and taken to area hospitals. The state patrol identified them as:

nTawny L. Ellis, 41, of Indianola, driver, transported to Harrison Medical Center.

nCor W. Ellis, 10, of Indianola, airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. On Dec. 22, Cor was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit.

nJohn L. Ellis, 8, of Indianola, transported to Harrison Medical Center.

nKatie R. Ellis, 13, of Indianola, transported to Harrison Medical Center.

n Matthew J. Ellis, 3, of Indianola, transported to Harrison Medical Center.

State patrol reported that the driver of the Freightliner tractor-trailer, identified as Jonathan L. Sutleyrhoades, 32, of Rochester, was not injured.

The driver of the Sterling tractor-trailer, Blair E. Smith, 54, of Olympia, also was uninjured.

— Leslie Kelly of the Kitsap News Group contributed to this report.

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