Bellingham police identify 2 men killed in last week’s fatal crash on Lakeway
The Bellingham Police Department has released the names of the two men who died in a traffic collision Nov. 14 on Lakeway Drive, though they continue to investigate what may have caused the fatal crash.
The driver of a white sedan that was hit broadside by a Chevrolet Suburban near Bayview Cemetery has been identified as 26-year-old David L. Mifflin of Bellingham and the passenger was identified as 30-year-old Jesus E. Vazquez of Bellingham, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email Friday evening.
As previously reported in The Bellingham Herald, police were sent to the two-vehicle crash at 7:05 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, in the 2700 block of Lakeway Drive.
Officers arrived to find the white sedan on the curb along the north side of the street between a tree and the Suburban, Murphy reported.
Medics were working on the two men inside the sedan, but they soon told police that the men had died, according to Murphy. The driver of the Suburban was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham as a precaution.
Police noted the sedan had “extensive” damage on the passenger’s side of the car, Murphy reported, indicating that it had been struck broad side by the Suburban.
Investigators determined Mifflin was driving the white sedan eastbound on Lakeway and at some point lost traction and slid sideways into the westbound lane, where it was struck by the Suburban, Murphy told The Herald on Friday.
“The driver of the Suburban was not able to avoid the collision as he could not see the car until it was too late,” Murphy reported Friday. “There was heavy rainfall and standing water at this point of the evening.
“There were no signs of intoxication by the driver of the Suburban. Autopsy results and toxicology tests are pending for Mifflin and Vazquez.”
The fatal crash is the seventh within Bellingham city limits so far this year, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation Crash Data Portal, and the 12th on Whatcom County roads. There were eight deadly crashes in Whatcom in 2020, and none within Bellingham.
