POULSBO — The 15-year-old, unlicensed driver of a vehicle who lost control and crashed into a waterfront deck before landing upside down in Liberty Bay has been booked into Kitsap County Juvenile Detention under suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson said the driver had two other juvenile passengers in the vehicle as it headed toward Suquamish along Lemolo Shore Drive at approximately 6 a.m. on April 13. According to the police report, witnesses at the scene watched the 1990 Ford Taurus lose control after attempting to negotiate a curve at a high rate of speed. The vehicle entered the oncoming lane, narrowly missing a head-on collision, and careened down an embankment before coming to rest on its roof in the water below.

According to Poulsbo Fire Department Battalion Chief Chris Rahl, before landing in the bay, the car managed to collide with two waterfront decks constructed on the shoreline. One of the decks, Rahl said, appeared to be completely destroyed and the other appeared to be severely damaged.

When responders arrived, the occupants of the vehicle met them beside the road, having already pulled themselves out of the submerged vehicle, Rahl said.

“Three teenage males, all cold, wet, mildly hypothermic,” Rahl said, illustrating the early morning scene. “Fortunately, they were able to get themselves out of the vehicle … They are very fortunate.”

After the scene was handed over to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, the investigating deputy developed reasonable suspicion that the driver had been under the influence of cannabis at the time of the accident. A blood draw was administered and assistance from a drug recognition expert was requested from an assisting agency.

“Once they completed that process, he was booked into juvenile detention,” Wilson said. The deputy said it won’t be known for sure if the driver was under the influence until a toxicology report comes back in a few weeks.

Wilson explained that based on the visual cues and the performance of the driver during a roadside sobriety test, the investigating deputy was able to determine sufficient probable cause to book the juvenile for driving under the influence.

According to Wilson, the driver estimated he was traveling around 45 or 50 mph, the speed limit along that section of Lemolo Shore Drive is 25 mph.

— Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. Nick can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com

Two shorefront decks were destroyed when a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old, lost control and crashed into Liberty Bay. Photo courtesy Luis Barrantes.