UPDATE: 2 killed, 1 hurt in excavator joyride in Pierce County

The couple who died were on an excavator like this one in Pierce County.



WILKESON, Wash. -- Two people in their early 20s died and a construction worker was injured Thursday night when, after drinks at a local bar, they decided to go on a joyride on an excavator and it went over a cliff at a remote logging site.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department said it began at a local bar Thursday night -- a 35-year-old construction worker who works at a nearby  site was drinking with a couple, 22-year-old Jared Lanphear of Buckley and 22-year-old Aeriel Strough, and they decided to drive up to a remote logging site and take an excavator for a ride.

The excavator went over a cliff. The worker survived.

"It's basically a joyride that went terribly wrong. They went over a steep embankment and the cab separated from the machinery and it rolled over the top of them (the couple) ... so they were killed instantly," sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.



The worker drove back down to the closest house, knocked on the door and called 911, Troyer said.

"This is just really tragic for these 22-year-olds who probably thought they were going with someone who knew what they were doing," Troyer said. "You have alcohol involved and heavy machinery, it's a bad combination."

The worker may face charges.