Klahowya grad killed in Saturday night car crash

A 19-year-old Central Kitsap man died early Sunday morning following a car accident at the corner of Tracyton Boulevard and NW Bucklin Hill Road in Silverdale Saturday, April 26.

Broc Tougas, a 2007 Klahowya Secondary School grad, died of blunt force trauma to the chest, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. His 18-year-old passenger is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to Deputy Scott Wilson, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Wilson said deputies and medical personnel were dispatched to the scene around 10:15 p.m. Saturday night. Tougas was driving southbound on Myhre Road in a 1995 Dodge Shadow when he ran a red light at the road’s intersection with Bucklin Hill Road. An 18-year-old East Bremerton woman, driving a 1994 Jeep Cherokee, was traveling down Bucklin Hill Road towards Silverdale and T-boned Tougas’ car. She had a green light and proceeded through the intersection, T-boning Tougas’ car, according to Wilson.

The Dodge Shadow spun and hit a utility pole, ejecting the passenger from the vehicle.

Both Tougas and his passenger were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where Tougas later died. Wilson said the sheriff’s office does not believe the men were wearing seat belts.

“We don’t believe they were,” Wilson said.

Wilson said speed and alcohol played a role in the collision.

“We do believe that alcohol was a factor in the collision to some degree,” Wilson said.

The 18-year-old driver of the Jeep Cherokee and 23-year-old East Bremerton passenger were taken to Harrison Medical Center with minor injuries.

Central Kitsap Reporter Staff writer Rachel Brant can be reached at rbrant@centralkitsapreporter.com or (360) 308-9161.