Suspected drunk driver wedges Camry in Oak Harbor sign, lane closed

A suspected impaired driver turned a late-night Oak Harbor crash into a days-long roadside hazard, leaving a 2025 Toyota Camry wedged in the Hilltop Auto Service sign structure and forcing a lane closure along Midway Boulevard.

Oak Harbor Police Chief Tony Slowik said the 30-year-old man was driving south on Midway Boulevard early Saturday when he missed the turn at Southeast Eighth Avenue and struck the 25-foot poles holding up the business sign. Toyota telematics alerted dispatch at about 3:30 a.m., bringing help to the scene even though no witness was immediately there. Slowik said the car narrowly missed the traffic-light control box at the intersection, a close call that could have made the crash far worse.

The driver was not injured, but police arrested him on suspicion of DUI and reckless driving. The crash did not end with the arrest. The Camry stayed wedged in the sign until Monday morning, keeping one lane closed until crews could remove and replace the damaged structure safely.

Hilltop Auto Service owner Phil Collier said police first wanted to tow the car out right away, but he refused because he believed pulling it free could bring the poles down on nearby buildings or people. Meyer Sign, which installed the sign decades ago, brought in a boom truck and another truck to carefully take down the structure. Collier estimated repairs could reach $40,000.

The scene carried broader traffic implications for Oak Harbor, where Midway Boulevard and Southeast Eighth Avenue already function as a familiar pressure point in local incident reporting. Prior calls there have included a report of a possible gunshot or firecracker and another involving Mason jars spilling from a pickup truck, underscoring that the intersection is no stranger to roadside disruptions.

Hilltop Auto Service says it was established in 1965 at 826 SE Midway Blvd., making the sign a long-standing feature of that commercial stretch. For Island County drivers, the crash was a reminder that one impaired turn can ripple far beyond a single arrest, tying up a lane, disrupting a business entrance and putting a busy Oak Harbor corner back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.