Driver Dies When Pickup Hits Semi Near Cheney

A motorist died when a pickup drove into a tractortrailer near Cheney on Friday night, said Washington State Patrol troopers.

John T. Ferguson, 35, who was visiting the Spokane area from Seattle, was headed east on state Highway 904 in a 1985 Chevrolet pickup at 9:40 p.m.

Gordon E. Rickert, 40, of Cheney, blocked the highway as he backed up a 1992 Freightliner tractor with a semitrailer into a private driveway, troopers said.

The pickup did not stop, driving into the trailer. Ferguson was killed instantly and the pickup was totalled, troopers said.

The accident happened about two miles west of Cheney.