State Patrol Remembers Trooper Christopher Gadd Two Years After Fatal I-5 Crash

The Washington State Patrol paid tribute on social media Monday to former Trooper Christopher Gadd, marking two years since he was killed in the line of duty on Interstate 5 near Marysville.

Gadd was on patrol around 3 a.m. on March 2, 2024, and had parked on the southbound shoulder of the freeway. Raul Benitez Santana, 34, who was returning from a bar in Mount Vernon, steered his black SUV onto the shoulder and struck Gadd's patrol vehicle. The collision killed Gadd almost instantly. He was 27 years old and had served two and a half years with the agency.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Karen Moore sentenced Benitez Santana to 125 months in prison for vehicular homicide and 14 months for vehicular assault. After his release, he will be under community custody for 18 months.

According to the State Patrol's post, Gadd's wife, Cammryn, lives in Snohomish County with the couple's 4-year-old daughter, Kaelyn. His parents, Gillian Gadd and fellow trooper David Gadd, live in King County. His sister, Jacqueline, is a trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The agency said it has honored Gadd in several ways over the past two years. The top academic prize he earned in the 116th Trooper Basic Training Class has been renamed the Trooper Chris Gadd Top Academic Award. It goes to the cadet with the highest grade-point average across the more than 30 exams required for graduation. The post said the naming ensures each graduating class is reminded of the standards he exemplified: "integrity, discipline, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge in service to others."

A plaque honoring Gadd was added on Dec. 5, 2025, to the memorial wall at the Helen Sommers Building in Olympia. On May 2, 2025, the Law Enforcement Medal of Honor Committee posthumously awarded him the Medal of Honor for his "courage, dedication, and selfless service." That same month, his family attended Police Week in Washington, D.C., where his name was added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial and read aloud at the Annual Candlelight Vigil.

Gadd is also the namesake of a yearly drunk-driving enforcement effort. The One More Stop emphasis patrol begins each year on or near Sept. 27, a nod to his badge number, 927. Officers focus on impaired driving, aggressive driving, speeding and other behavior typical of drunk drivers.

During the 2025 patrol, which ran just over 60 hours across one weekend, state, county and municipal officers in Washington contacted 5,330 motorists. Of those, 46% received citations for infractions and 54% were given warnings, according to a press release. Officers booked 109 people on suspicion of driving under the influence and another 144 on suspicion of other offenses or on warrants.