Thurston County Commissioner Wayne Fournier, who is also a full-time firefighter in Grays Harbor County, found himself in the right place at the right time to assist victims of a crash in Centralia on Monday evening.
A 27-year-old Centralia man and his two passengers were traveling in the 2700 block of North Pearl Street at about 6 p.m. when the crash occurred. The vehicle went off the roadway and rolled, coming to a rest on its top.
That’s when Fournier happened upon the scene.
“Saw a serious rollover accident on our way home from volleyball tonight with three people trapped inside,” Fournier wrote online. “We broke the passenger window and pulled two of them out, then with a little help lifted the car off of the third person, whose arms were trapped through the sunroof and underneath the car. Huge shoutout to the Centralia Police Department and the Riverside Fire Authority for arriving fast and taking over like pros. Great job everyone who jumped in to help.”
The driver was identified by Centralia police as Johanvictor S. Medina, 27, of Centralia. Police arrested Medina and booked him into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of two counts of vehicular assault.
“Officers were responding to an assault involving Medina,” police wrote in a news release. “Medina left the scene in his vehicle with two passengers prior to the officer's arrival. Medina went off the roadway and rolled his vehicle, causing both of his passengers to be transported to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Medina is being referred on the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.”
On Tuesday, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office declined to charge Medina with vehicular assault in Lewis County Superior Court, though he could still face charges in Lewis County District Court.
