Drivers on their cell phones have become a top safety concern, prompting an enforcement patrol that will put more law enforcement on Pierce County roads starting Monday.

The emphasis patrol will last until June 2.

During the same enforcement period last year, authorities doled out 1,059 cell phone violations and 3,171 seat belt violations statewide.

Participating agencies include Fircrest, Lakewood, Orting, Puyallup, Sumner and Tacoma police, as well as the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and the Washington State Patrol.

A 29-year-old Georgia man has been arrested on a Pierce County warrant charging him with killing a man outside a Sumner motel in December, police said Wednesday.

Authorities in the greater Atlanta area arrested Quentin Lorenzo Simmons about 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sumner Police Chief Brad Moericke said in a news release.

Pierce County prosecutors contend Simmons shot and killed Rigoberto D. Vargas outside the Sumner Motor Inn on December 16. Simmons also is charged with first-degree assault for allegedly wounding three  of Vargas’ companions, court records show.

It was unclear when Simmons would be extradited to Pierce County to answer the …

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UPDATE as of 3:30 p.m. The 1100 block of Shaw Road is closed, and crews do not know when it will open.

A tree and power lines fell across cars in a parking lot at the west entrance to Green River Community College in Auburn, according to the school. Classes have been canceled due to a power outage. The Kent and Enumclaw campuses are running as scheduled.

INITIAL POST: This afternoon’s brief storm knocked power out to thousands of homes and businesses in Pierce and King counties.

Puget Sound Energy said a widespread outage was reported about 2 p.m.

It is affecting …

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A 22-year-old Bonney Lake man who died early Friday after crashing his car into a tree has been identified as Derek Tyndall.

Tyndall was heading south in the 4600 block of Sumner Tapps Highway in Sumner when he lost control of the vehicle about 2 a.m., crossed the northbound lanes and struck a tree.

“We believe speed and alcohol were factors,” Sumner Police Chief Brad Moericke said.

Tyndall had to be extricated from his vehicle and died at the hospital. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Tyndall and a friend made national headlines in November after going snowboarding on …

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The fatal shooting of a Sumner man by a Milton police officer has been ruled lawful, the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.

Patrick Don Durnford, 47, was shot Oct. 24 outside him home in the 7000 block of 142nd Avenue East.

According to prosecutors:

Officer Zack Kenyon shot Durnford while responding to the residence as part of the Pierce County Metro SWAT team. The death was determined to be a justifiable homicide.

Durnford said he had a .357 handgun and a hostage, and exited the house and pointed what appeared to be an orange handgun at …

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UPDATE as of 5:41 p.m. The crash involved two vehicles about 5 p.m. Most patients were treated at the scene and two were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries, according to East Pierce. Central Pierce Fire & Rescue and South King Fire & Rescue also responded. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the crash.

INITIAL POST: A vehicle crash at West Valley Highway East and 24th Street East has injured seven people this evening, according to East Pierce Fire & Rescue.

Further details were not immediately available. Check back for updates.

The Coast Starlight train, on its way from Los Angeles to Seattle, hit an unattended vehicle in Sumner parked on the tracks at 8:04 tonight, according to Amtrak.

No one was injured in the crash at Zehnder Street, according to Amtrak, and the train was on its way again at 8:55 p.m.

53 passengers were on board.

UPDATE as of 1:14 p.m. The family of the deceased identified him as Rigoberto Daza of Madera, Calif. “Rigo” traveled to Sumner with uncles and cousins to work on the extension of the local Costco Depot, his cousin Esveidyth Cortez said. Two co-workers from Fresno and Cortez’s father were also injured in the shooting, and all are now stable, Cortez said.

Daza is survived by his wife and 1-year-old daughter, who he lived with in Madera, Cortez said.

“Quiet, honest, helpful,” Cortez said about his cousin. “You would never see him get mad. He was there for you when you needed him. …

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