Two Men Critically Injured In Rollover On I-90

Two men were listed in critical condition as a result of a one-vehicle rollover Monday afternoon on Interstate 90 west of Spokane.

John D. Brough, 48, and Cruz E. Mejia, 21, were taken to Deaconess Medical Center. A third person, Robert L. Zachary, 30, was reported in satisfactory condition at Deaconess.

Mejia, a transient, was driving the pickup and faces charges of vehicular assault, said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Chris Powell. Mejia probably was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred at 4:05 p.m., Powell said.

Mejia was driving the pickup about 22 miles west of Spokane when it left the roadway and he overcorrected. The pickup rolled, throwing out Mejia, Brough, who was a passenger in the cab, and Zachary, a hitchhiker who was riding in the truck bed.

Powell said it was a miracle no one died at the scene. “Statistically, they should all be dead.”

Brough owned the pickup truck Mejia was driving, Powell said. Brough’s driver’s license says he’s a Spokane resident, but his truck is registered to a Wellpinit address.

Zachary is a transient Mejia and Brough picked up in Ellensburg, Powell said.

It was unclear whether all three had been drinking.

“The scene of the accident is strewn with a lot of beer cans,” Powell said.

One lane of eastbound I-90 was blocked for several hours Monday as investigators gathered evidence.

, DataTimes