Kent Police arrested a 20-year-old Covington man for investigation of vehicular assault after he allegedly drove a vehicle at high speed along the West Valley Highway early Friday morning that collided with a vehicle driven by a 42-year-old Tacoma man.

At about 3:53 a.m., officers were dispatched to a two-car injury accident at the intersection of South 216th Street and the West Valley Highway, aka 68th Avenue South, said police spokeswoman Melanie Robinson in an email.

The Covington man was driving northbound on 68th Avenue South and collided with a vehicle eastbound on South 216th Street. There is no traffic signal at the intersection, just south of the large South 212th Street intersection. The posted speed along the highway is 50 mph.

“It appears as though driver two (the Tacoma man) was at a stop sign, and just as he proceeded eastbound is when driver one (the Covington man) collided into him,” Robinson said.

The Tacoma man suffered life-threatening injuries, Robinson said. Paramedics transported him to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The Covington man had minor injuries. Paramedics transported him to Valley Medical Center in Renton.

According to investigators, speed was a factor and as a result, the Covington man was subsequently arrested for vehicular assault, Robinson said. She did not have an estimate about how fast the man was driving except that it was a high rate.

Robinson said she had no update about the condition of the Tacoma man. She said the names of the drivers would be released at this time.

Police closed West Valley Highway for several hours because of the crash.