A 21-year-old Poulsbo woman was arrested early Tuesday morning for driving under the influence and possession of methamphetamine after she collided with a Bainbridge Island police car on Highway 305 late Monday night.

No one was seriously hurt in the crash.

Credit the Bainbridge officer behind the wheel of the patrol car, said Bainbridge Police Chief Matthew Hamner.

The quick thinking and skill of that officer — Joseph Fastaia, who just joined the Bainbridge force less than a month ago — earned the chief’s praise.

“It was an excellent response,” Hamner said. “He took evasive action immediately and really mitigated what could have been a much more serious accident.”

Fastaia wasn’t alone in the police car; next to him was his training officer, Officer Michael Tovar.

Both officers declined treatment, but Hamner said they were both sore when they reported to work the following day and were directed by department higher-ups to get a medical evaluation.

The crash happened at 11:33 p.m. Monday, March 3.

The Poulsbo woman had just driven off the Bainbridge ferry and was heading north on Highway 305 in a 2007 Ford Taurus, according to the Washington State Patrol.

But she was driving in the southbound lane of the highway without her headlights on, the State Patrol said.

The Bainbridge police car was heading south at the same time, and the woman swerved to avoid colliding with the patrol car as she approached Vineyard Lane NE.

Fastaia saw the oncoming car and tried to swerve his 2007 Ford Crown Victoria out of the way.

While he avoided a direct head-on collision, the Poulsbo woman’s car crushed the driver’s side front end of the police cruiser.

The officer pulled off to the side of the road, while the woman kept going north until her car quickly gave out.

The Washington State Patrol investigated the crash, and the northbound lanes of the highway were closed for two hours early Tuesday morning.

The Poulsbo woman was booked into Kitsap County Jail just before 3 a.m. Tuesday on a misdemeanor DUI charge and possession of drugs, a felony. Bail was set at $10,000.

In court documents, the driver said she was on her way home from Seattle at the time of the crash.

She also allegedly said she had been drinking champagne at a friend’s birthday party after getting off from work earlier that day.

She initially said she had just one drink, but later said she had consumed four large glasses of champagne.

The woman was given roadside sobriety tests and failed.

When she was being booked into jail, authorities searched her purse and found a small plastic baggie with a small amount of white crystals inside.

Police tested the baggie and found it was methamphetamine.

The Poulsbo woman first said she didn’t know why the bag was in her purse, but later said she thought it must have been in her purse for more than a year and recalled it had contained meth and was used by her and her ex-boyfriend about two years ago.

Because the collision involved a police car, the incident will be internally reviewed by the Bainbridge Island Police Department, Hamner said.

The Bainbridge chief also said the crash serves as a serious reminder; those who drink should give their keys to someone else and find another way home besides getting behind the wheel.

“This was not as tragic as it could have been. Things could have been a lot worse,” Hamner said.

“Impaired driving is extremely dangerous,” he said. “It changes everybody’s life.”

The woman was charged with driving under the influence Tuesday in Kitsap County District Court.

Conviction of impaired driving can result in a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.