Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders Released After Crash Sent Him to Harborview

Isabel Vander Stoep, The Chronicle, Centralia, Wash.
·2 min read

Apr. 3—Around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, 29, was involved in a two vehicle collision at the intersection of Lawrence Lake Road Southeast and 153rd Avenue Southeast in Yelm.

Sanders was airlifted from the scene to Harborview Medical Center, according to a news release from the sheriff's office, and was released at 11:25 p.m. Sunday night.

"Thank you all for wrapping your arms around me," Sanders wrote in a Facebook post Sunday. "I'm OK."

The Washington State Patrol was brought on to investigate the crash. The driver of the other vehicle, a Ford Ranger, was a 29-year-old male from Roy named Zachary A. Roberge. According to the state patrol, he remained uninjured and was taken into custody for DUI by troopers at the scene.

Sanders was driving his department vehicle southbound when a pickup truck, traveling east, pulled in front of him, according to the release. In a call with The Chronicle, the sheriff's office did not confirm whether or not Sanders was responding to a call at the time of the incident, but did say he'd been on duty throughout the day.

In a Facebook post, a Tenino area community member and activist Kendahl Tuttle shared a conversation she had with the sheriff's mother on Sunday evening.

His mother is quoted in the post as saying that while at Harborview, he had "his girlfriend by his side with one of his very best friends, lots of Seattle PD, TCSO with him."

Sanders' mother is also quoted saying the dispatch center "did an amazing job getting him airlift(ed)."

Additional information will be released as it becomes available, the office stated.

According to Thurston County Scanner, a volunteer group of people who monitor scanners in the area and post about incidents to Facebook, the Yelm Police Department, Southeast Thurston Fire and the sheriff's office all responded to the scene of the crash.

The page also reported Sanders was able to use his radio to request his own aid on the scene.

"We are happy to share that Sheriff Sanders has been released from the hospital. Thank you for your support," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook at 11:45 p.m. Sunday.