Speed and alcohol were contributing factors when a car struck a power pole accidentally July 8 at about 3 p.m. in Freeland.

Dawn Bright, 35, lost control of the vehicle she was driving and hit a telephone pole near the intersection of Fish Road and Scenic Avenue near the stoplight on Highway 525. Bright, a Freeland resident, was transported to Whidbey General Hospital where she was treated for minor injuries and released.

Island County Deputy Lane Campbell reported that Bright’s vehicle “appeared to have been traveling at least double the posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour when her vehicle became airborne and vaulted for a distance of 55 feet, hitting the telephone pole at a height of about 4 feet.”

According to Island County Sheriff spokeswoman Jan Smith, Bright was cited for driving under the influence in connection with the mid-afternoon collision. She was booked into Island County Jail on the charge.

She would have been released immediately, according to Smith, except for the fact that she had to answer to a second charge. She was booked and held for a parole violation from California.

Smith said Bright is a convicted felon.

“She was convicted of second-degree robbery with the use of a firearm,” Smith said.