Driver arrested after I-5 crash that injured her and three passengers

A Yelm woman was arrested Friday after a 1993 Toyota Camry she drove lurched out of control and crashed on Interstate 5, causing one of three passengers to suffer a broken neck, officials say.

Donelda M. Hayes, 40, was being held without bail in the Clark County Jail on suspicion of vehicular assault, a jail officer said. She is to make a first court appearance Monday morning.

A passenger, 31-year-old Stephen J. Toth Jr. of Tualatin, Ore., suffered a broken neck and was taken to Southwest Washington Medical Center by AMR Northwest ambulance, according to a bulletin from the Washington State Patrol.

Toth was listed in satisfactory condition at the medical center, a nursing supervisor said early today.

Toth’s name initially was spelled incorrectly in the WSP bulletin.

Driver Hayes suffered shoulder pain and also was taken to Southwest, as were two boys who were riding in the car, ages 14 and 17. The boys, also Yelm residents, suffered minor injuries, the bulletin said. Their names were not immediately released.

After being treated at the hospital, Hayes was taken to jail.

About 10:35 a.m. Friday, the bulletin said, Hayes had been driving south on I-5 about one mile north of the fairgrounds, in the right of three lanes, when she drove off the freeway to the right. The car rolled over and came to rest on its wheels facing north.

The bulletin said all but Toth wore seat belts and it wasn’t known whether he wore one.

Toth’s sister, Dianne Toth-Kelley, a Portland-area resident, said Toth’s cat, an orange tabby male named Kaiser, had been with him in the car when it crashed.

“When the car stopped, Stephen remembers seeing Kaiser leap from the car,” she said. “My brother is beside himself about losing his pet. We are trying to do anything we can do to help find Kaiser. My husband and little brother returned to the scene of the accident this evening in hopes of finding Kaiser — without any luck.”

She said Kaiser has a skin condition and lost some fur. Anyone knowing Kaiser’s whereabouts is asked to call her at 503-707-6784.