A 37-year old Olympia man died in a single-vehicle fatality motor vehicle collision in Aberdeen just before 9 PM Thursday evening.

At 8:47 PM Aberdeen Police officers were dispatched to a collision in the parking lot that serves Robert Gray Elementary and Stewart Field, on B St. at Third Ave. Initial reports were that a vehicle had crashed into the boulders that separate the raised entry off B St. from the lower parking lot. Officers initially were advised the collision may be a hit and run, as there was nobody in the 1993 Ford Taurus, which had come to rest near the center of the lot. When responding officers arrived, the owner/driver was located with severe critical injuries. There were no other passengers in the vehicle.

Witnesses and physical evidence at the scene revealed the man was driving eastbound down Third Ave. at a high rate of speed.  He failed to stop for the B St. stop sign, crossed B St. and entered the parking lot to the south of Robert Gray Elementary.  The vehicle struck the large boulders and went airborne.  At or about the time of the collision, the driver separated from the vehicle out the driver’s door, and came to rest in the lower parking lot.  The vehicle continued east until coming to rest on a curb.

At this time, the cause of the collision is unknown to investigators.  There was no evidence at the scene indicating alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision.  Members of the departments Collision Investigation Team (with the assistance of an officer from the Hoquiam Police Department) were on scene until around 2 AM conducting the preliminary investigation.  B St. was only temporarily re-routed.  An extensive investigation will be continuing