JBLM soldiers killed by wrong-way drunk driver near Tacoma

Two soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) were killed near Tacoma when their vehicle was struck by a suspected drunk driver who was driving the wrong way on an area highway, according to the Army.

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 soldier in the car was taken to hospital and has since been released.

Previous coverage: Several nighttime accidents leave 2 dead and 3 arrested for drunk driving in Tacoma

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

“We are saddened to learn that two Soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division have died following an off-post vehicle accident,” Pargett wrote in a statement.

He said the accident remains under investigation.

Fairbairn was traveling west on Highway 12, near the military base south of Tacoma, in a Chrysler 300 when a wrong-way driver of a Ford Edge SUV struck the sedan. The 23-year-old driver of the SUV 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 vehicular homicide while driving while intoxicated, Washington State Patrolman John Dattilo posted on the social media platform X.