Two men killed in high-speed crash in downtown Seattle

Two men who had been friends since the first grade were killed in a car crash on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning during one of their regular weekend trips to hang out in downtown Seattle.

According to the State Patrol, the two men killed were the driver and passenger in a silver 2002 BMW that was speeding north on I-5 around 2:45 a.m. The driver, a 23-year-old Brier man, clipped an Acura near the Mercer Street offramp. The BMW then crossed three lanes of traffic before striking a Seattle Fire Department medic unit, which was on the way back to its station from a call.

The Brier man and his passenger, Jordan Swenson, 23, from Kenmore, were pronounced dead at the scene. Both men were wearing seat belts, troopers said.

While neither man has been identified formally by the King County Medical Examiner's Office, Swenson's family confirmed his identity. The Seattle Times is not naming the driver of the BMW because his family could not be reached Saturday for comment.

On weekends, Swenson and the Brier man, friends since the first grade, drove into Seattle to hang out at dance clubs, said Swenson's younger brother Jake.

Jake Swenson, 20, said that when he learned his older brother had died, he couldn't stop screaming and crying.

The Swenson brothers lived at home with their parents and were close. Both men worked for Safelite Auto Glass, and Jake was scheduled to transfer to his older brother's store in Bellevue.

"I looked in my phone to see how many times I called him every day on average, and it was 30-plus times," Jake Swenson said. "We did everything together."

Swenson played football and basketball, and he participated in track and field while attending Inglemoor High School, said his father, Mark Swenson. The man was an aspiring rap performer.

While relatives of the BMW's driver could not be reached for comment, the man's ex-girlfriend, Amy Deshon, of Kenmore, described him as a good father and close with their 2-year-old son. The man graduated from Inglemoor with Swenson in 2005, Deshon said. "I can't process it right now. I can't think," Deshon said, crying.

While the crash remains under investigation, detectives have determined the BMW was traveling at a high rate of speed when it clipped the car and struck the back of the ambulance, said State Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Christina Martin. Alcohol appeared to be a factor, she said, but didn't elaborate.

According to Seattle Municipal Court records, the driver of the BMW was charged in November 2006 with drunken driving. The case was amended to negligent driving last year. The man was convicted of the reduced charge, records indicate.

The Seattle firefighter/paramedics were taken to Harborview Medical Center. The 43-year-old driver suffered a skull fracture, while her 39-year-old male colleague suffered back injuries, Martin said. The driver and passengers of the Acura were not injured.

The firefighter/paramedics had just taken a patient to Virginia Mason Hospital & Medical Center, in the First Hill neighborhood, and were returning to their University District fire station when the medic unit was struck, said Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Dana VanderHowen.

The crash caused all five northbound lanes of I-5 to be shut down for about four hours. The freeway was reopened by 7:30 a.m., Martin said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294