One dead in crash on Empire Ave.

The driver of a green pickup truck died early Sunday afternoon after being hit broadside by a speeding black Honda Civic that ran a stop sign at Empire Ave. and Helena St.
Police have not yet identified the deceased driver and are not releasing the person’s gender.
The nothbound Honda hit the westbound truck with such velocity that pieces of both cars scattered over a wide area. The truck snapped off a telephone pole that collapsed on the fence of a nearby yard.
An officer spotted the speeding Honda shortly before the crash but was not in pursuit, said …

The driver of a green pickup truck died early Sunday afternoon after being hit broadside by a speeding black Honda Civic that ran a stop sign at Empire Ave. and Helena St.

Police have not yet identified the deceased driver and are not releasing the person’s gender.

The nothbound Honda hit the westbound truck with such velocity that pieces of both cars scattered over a wide area. The truck snapped off a telephone pole that collapsed on the fence of a nearby yard.

An officer spotted the speeding Honda shortly before the crash but was not in pursuit, said Spokane Police Department Capt. Dave Richards. “The accident happened before the officer even had a chance to get behind him,” he said.

The driver of the Honda, identified by police as 38-year-old Bryan J. Storms, ran from the scene and was chased down by the officer and a witness, Richards said. Two passengers from the Honda were taken to the hospital and are expected to survive, he said.

Storms is currently being treated at a local hospital and once he is released he will be booked into the Spokane County Jail on one charge of vehicular homicide and two charges of vehicular assault, Richards said.

According to court records, Storms has multiple criminal convictions dating back to 1997 for attempting to elude a police vehicle, possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.

A section of Empire has been shut down for several hours while police investigate the crash. The road is expected to reopen by 6 p.m.