Ballard Ambulance T-Bones Vehicle Full of Passengers
The collision occurred at the intersection of Wenatchee Avenue and Ninth Street in Wenatchee on Dec. 21
At about 8:43 on the evening of Dec. 21, 2023, a Ballard Ambulance was on route to a report of a cardiac event and t-boned a Toyota Corolla with five passengers in it at the intersection of Wenatchee Avenue and Ninth Street in Wenatchee.
According to Wenatchee Police reports and footage obtained through public records request, the Ballard Ambulance had a red light as it approached the intersection. According to the report by WPD officer Rheid Cline, the Ballard crew started the sirens “roughly 100 feet before the intersection.”
“According to dashcam software, the vehicle’s speed was roughly 41 mph when the sirens are activated,” Cline wrote.
The ambulance entered the intersection going 43 mph and hit the small car that had the right of way, causing “major damage to the driver’s side,” according to Cline.
There were five passengers in the Toyota, including children.
According to state law, ambulance drivers are given a lot of leeway when it comes to operating a vehicle on the way to an emergency. They can roll through a stop sign or a red light, but only if it’s safe to do so. The vehicle’s speed is also a key factor.
Emergency vehicles may “proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation,” the RCW states.
According to Cline’s report, this ambulance was speeding up through the intersection.
In one of the WPD photos the driver was pictured wearing a neck brace, but the reports do not state if anyone was transported to local medical facilities for treatment.
So I reached out to Officer Cline to ask about that. I also reached out to the driver of the Toyota to see if he plans on taking legal action against Ballard. And I reached out to Ballard Ambulance for comment. I have not heard back from Cline or the driver of the smaller vehicle, and when I called Ballard and spoke with Eric Ballard he told me to email his father and owner of Ballard Ambulance, Shawn Ballard.
So I sent Shawn an email with the following questions:
Hello Mr. Ballard,
“My name is Dominick Bonny and I'm a reporter based in the Wenatchee Valley. I just got some dashcam footage and a police report detailing the Dec. 21 collision involving a Ballard Ambulance at the intersection of Wenatchee Ave. and Ninth Street in Wenatchee.
I see a photo that shows the driver of the Toyota your Ambulance t-boned in a neck collar. How many people in that vehicle were injured and what was the extent of those injuries? Were any of them transported to the hospital? Did Ballard employees suffer any injuries?
What traffic laws do ambulance drivers have to obey in situations like this? Is it common to leave the sirens off until just before you reach an intersection?
Is Ballard legally exposed in this instance? Has the driver of the other vehicle communicated to you that he will be taking legal action?
When an incident like this happens, what are Ballard's internal policies in response?
Is there anything else you think the public needs to know about this story?
Thank you and best regards,”
How I Found Out About This
An anonymous tipster with special insight into the first responder community reached out to me and said local EMS folks were asking why there hasn’t been any coverage of this incident in local media outlets.
“Obviously there is a pretty strong connection between Ballard and GCC (Grace City Church) and the Ballard’s influence permeates throughout the area’s emergency response system,” they wrote. “I’m not saying that is at play here by any means. I just know there is not a word being said about the accident in any of the local news sources.”
The connection between the Ballards and Grace City Church is well-documented, as is the family’s conservative political activism going back three generations now.
This is a short documentary GCC’s video production team put together about the Ballards and their business.
According to Ballard Ambulance’s website, the company’s founder and longtime state politician Clyde Ballard helped write the first laws that regulated private ambulance services.
Clyde is a frequent featured speaker at GCC events like the Project ManCard Rite of Passage ceremony and his grandson Eric is set to teach math at GCC’s Garden City Academy this fall. The Ballards also donated to the campaigns of GCC-backed candidates like Wenatchee School Board candidate Matt Van Bogart and former Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett.
If and when I hear back from Cline, the driver and/or Ballard, I will update this piece with their responses.
Update as of Dec. 10
Wenatchee Police Chief Crown got back to me and said the family in the Toyota was transported to the hospital following the collision.
“It is my understanding that the family in the passenger vehicle were transported to the hospital for evaluations with no visible or apparent injuries,” he wrote in an email.
WTH???? How was this not front page news? Seriously. Those of us whoever kept any news clippings from the Clovis point discoveries in E Wenatchee know that front page story was shared with the major news that Steve May had left Ballard to start Lifeline. As someone who has not lived in the valley for 20 yrs., I so appreciate that Dominick keeps us all abreast of this stuff. How did this not get greater coverage via eyewitnesses and the passengers? SMH
Oh, lord. My mother died seven years ago at the age of 95 and as long as she had the gift of reason, which was a long time, she never stopped insisting that she didn't want Ballard transporting her. I am starting to understand why.
In this particular incident on the Avenue at 9th Street , the Ballard ambulance could have killed some people. I don't believe that is how that is supposed to work.
That local media did not offer a whisper about the matter is unconscionable.
I can easily imagine that the GCC connection played a part in the subsequent silence. The community feels infiltrated. Media has a responsibility to report news, not to bow down or shrink back.