Macklemore walks away from head-on collision on Whidbey

Grammy Award-winning performer Macklemore was uninjured in a head-on collision on Whidbey. The other driver is suspected of driving under the influence.

Grammy award-winning rapper Macklemore is OK following a head-on collision Friday in Langley.

The musician’s car was hit by a suspected drunk driver, according to police reports.

Macklemore, whose legal name is Ben Haggerty, was not injured in the crash. The other driver, identified as Freeland resident Jake O’Brian Pitcher, was not so lucky.

Pitcher suffered facial injuries and was transported to WhidbeyHealth in Coupeville for treatment.

A hospital spokeswoman confirmed Pitcher was treated and released on Saturday.

Both vehicles sustained significant damage, according to reports.

Macklemore’s 2016 Mercedes-Maybach is a car with a starting price of $166,000.

The accident was reported at 10:22 p.m. and occurred on Cascade Avenue near Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, or WICA.

According to Langley police, Pitcher, 24, was driving southbound in a 1986 Chevy S-10 pickup. Macklemore, 35, who was with two passengers, was northbound in the Mercedes.

“Upon arriving I observed two vehicles that looked to have struck each other head-on,” Officer Charlie Liggitt wrote in his report. “… The pickup truck appeared to have crossed into the northbound lane and strike [sic] the Mercedes.”

Liggitt said Macklemore later told him Pitcher crossed the centerline and struck his vehicle while he was negotiating the curve just north of Edgecliff Drive.

Liggitt interviewed Pitcher as well, and noted in his report that he “smelled the faint odor of intoxicants.”

“When I asked the driver of the pickup, Jake Pitcher, if he had anything to drink that evening, he replied, ‘A while back.’ I asked him how much and he said, ‘five o’clock,’” Liggitt wrote.

Pitcher was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and suffered “severe facial lacerations.”

“His windshield was shattered where his face hit it,” said Police Chief Dave Marks, who was also at the accident scene.

Langley turned the case over to the Washington State Patrol, which has special training in collisions and in accidents suspected of involving alcohol.

Washington State Trooper Heather Axtman, spokeswoman for the State Patrol, confirmed that Pitcher was arrested at the hospital on suspicion of driving under the influence following a blood draw.

Axtman confirmed that Macklemore was driving while his license was suspended and received a citation.

At the scene of the crash, Macklemore’s vehicle presented difficulties during road clean up. Though small, the model packs about 500 horsepower and weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

“They’re a really heavy car; they had difficulty loading it on the tow truck,” Marks said.

The singer’s Mercedes was totaled.

Macklemore won four Grammys in 2014 for best rap album, best new artist, best rap performance and best rap song.

The rapper’s parents reportedly have a home on South Whidbey, which he visits often.

Marks said he sees him around town often and instantly recognized him at the scene of the accident.