Excessive speed suspected in fatal crash that led to widespread power outage at UW Tacoma

Excessive speed is suspected to have led to a fatal car crash that left one person dead in Tacoma on Saturday.

The wreck occurred in the area of South 21st Street and Pacific Avenue shortly before 6 a.m., according to the Tacoma Fire Department.

Tacoma police suspect excessive speed as the cause for the single-vehicle crash. DUI is also suspected but not confirmed, according to police spokesman detective William Muse.

The crash caused severe damage to University of Washington Tacoma’s electrical system in the Cragle parking lot, The News Tribune reported.

The university suspended in-person operations from Monday to Saturday as it works with multiple agencies to find a solution to the outage. Remote operations were continuing where possible.

Businesses in the area also were closed as a result of the power outage.