Authorities say soldiers in Washington state were killed by drunk wrong-way driver

Liberty Gate at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on May 11, 2018. (Joint Base Lewis-McChord Office of Public Affairs)

TACOMA, Wash. – Two soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state were killed when their vehicle was struck by a suspected drunk driver traveling the wrong way on an area highway, the Army said.

Spc. Charles T. Fairbairn, 29, and Spc. Wendell T. Cerio, 22, died in the crash early Sunday morning, the Washington State Patrol said. A third trooper in the car was taken to the hospital with injuries and has since been released.

JBLM spokesman Matt Pargett told the Seattle Times in an email that Fairbairn was an infantryman and Cerio was a medic.

“We are saddened to hear of the deaths of two soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division in a car accident off base,” Pargett wrote in a statement.

He said the accident was still under investigation.

Fairbairn was driving a Chrysler 300 westbound on Highway 12 near the military base south of Tacoma when a wrong-way driver in a Ford Edge SUV struck the sedan. The 23-year-old SUV driver and a 19-year-old passenger were taken to the hospital with injuries. A baby in the car was not injured.

The driver of the SUV was arrested on two counts of intoxicated vehicular manslaughter, Washington State Patrol officer John Dattilo posted on the social media platform X.