1 dead, 2 hurt in WA highway crashes over the weekend in the Tri-Cities
A person was killed and two others hospitalized in crashes on state highways over the weekend.
Investigators are still unsure why Evelio Cruz, 41, was walking on a Pasco on-ramp to Interstate 82 when he was hit by a car early Saturday and died.
Washington State Patrol officials say they are looking into whether the Pasco man was intoxicated when he was struck in the middle of the road at 3:40 a.m. by a Honda CR-V.
The state patrol didn’t cite the Honda’s driver, Brian J. Luft, 51, of Kennewick.
▪ The driver in another crash on Friday is accused of driving drunk, according to traffic memos.
Investigators believe Matthew L. Gottsch, 31, of Richland, was intoxicated behind the wheel of a 2002 Toyota Camry at 10 p.m. when he pulled out from Bruneau Avenue onto Highway 397, near the cable bridge, said the WSP.
He collided with a Kia Sorento driven by Hirbing Nino, 32, of Kennewick, as Nino was headed south.
Gottsch, Nino and one adult and two of the children in the Sorento were not hurt. One child was taken to Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick by a private vehicle. The child’s condition was not immediately available.
▪ And WSP investigators are continuing to look into what happened in an afternoon crash on the Road 68 off-ramp from Interstate 182.
Jeffrey G. Scriven, 52, of Pasco, was heading east when he lost control of his 1985 Jeep CJ7 about 5 p.m. Sunday. Emergency crews needed to free him from the wreckage, said the WSP release.
Scriven was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, but no information was available Monday about his condition.
