DUI suspect suffers life-threatening injury in Vancouver crash

Vancouver police are investigating a head-on crash involving a suspected intoxicated driver Tuesday night in the West Minnehaha neighborhood.

Police officers were dispatched at 10:20 p.m. to Northeast Highway 99 and Ross Street for a report of a wrong-way driver.

The at-fault driver, 21-year-old Nicholas Harkey, was traveling north in the southbound lanes when he struck the victim’s vehicle head on, Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said in an email.

Harkey “was transported to the hospital to be treated and processed for DUI,” Kapp said.

Police said the victim, David Morrel, 35, was also taken to the hospital for a foot injury.

It was later determined that Harkey suffered a life-threatening injury. A spokesperson for OHSU Hospital in Portland said Harkey is in serious condition at the hospital.

Traffic unit officers are continuing to investigate.

Correction: The above article incorrectly reported that Nicholas Harkey had been treated and released from PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. Harkey is in serious condition at a Portland hospital.