UPDATE: 76-year-old Prosser driver kills Kennewick man and himself in wrong-way I-82 crash
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the wrong-way driver. The Washington State Patrol initially reversed the identities of two drivers involved in the fatal wreck.
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Two people are dead after a Prosser man drove the wrong way on Interstate 82 between Benton City and the Tri-Cities, causing a four-car crash.
In a corrected report, the Washington State Patrols said David K. Clark, 76, of Prosser, was driving west in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 82 in a Chevy Silverado about 2:20 a.m. Sunday.
About four miles past the Interstate 182 and I-82 interchange, the pickup crashed head-on into an eastbound 2019 Audi RS3 driven by Taj S. Sohi, 20, of Kennewick.
Both Sohi and Clark died before they could be taken to a hospital. Sohi was wearing a seat belt but Clark was not.
Troopers are continuing to investigate where Clark got onto the divided highway going the wrong way, Washington State Patrol Trooper Chris Thorson said. He was heading from the Tri-Cities.
Minutes after the initial crash a 2015 Dodge Ram pickup and a GMC Acadia SUV hit the Audi.
The pickup’s driver, Dalton J. Gifford, 24, of West Richland, was taken to a hospital by another driver, said Trooper Chris Thorson. When troopers investigated, they learned Gifford had been drinking.
He was arrested for DUI and booked into the Benton County jail.
The GMC’s driver, Jesus Soto Lara, 34, of Walla Walla, and his passenger, Laura Rodriguez Perez, 37, of College Place, were both taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center with injuries. Their conditions were not immediately available.
Interstate 82 was closed eastbound at Benton City as far east as Interstate 182 for more than seven hours as the WSP investigated. A detour was in place.
The Sunday morning crash was the second fatal crash caused by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 82 this year.
In February, two children, ages 6 and 8, from Grandview died after a Springfield, Mo., man, Keith A. Goings, 20, entered the interstate headed west in the eastbound lanes at Sunnyside. Two miles west of Sunnyside he hit a Nissan Altima head on.
The 23-year-old driver, Maurilio D. Trejo, of Grandview, was taking three foster children to see their parents.
Goings had been seen driving a Ford Mustang 111 mph on Interstate 90 near Ellensburg an hour before the crash, according to the WSP.
