Three killed in collisions
Two separate crashes Wednesday morning in the Spokane area killed three people, including the union president of the Seattle Police Department.
A head-on collision on U.S. Highway 195 south of Spokane killed two people, and a rollover accident on Interstate 90 just east of the Idaho border killed the driver. Both fatal crashes caused emergency personnel to close the respective roadways for hours.
Killed in the rollover crash was 41-year-old Ken Saucier, the president of the Seattle police union, Idaho State Police Capt. Wayne Longo said.
Saucier was driving a 2001 Ford Ranger westbound on Interstate 90 approaching the Washington state line when he crashed about 4 a.m., Longo said.
Saucier, a Seattle police officer since 1986 and guild president since 2002, was returning from a shooting competition in Ohio, Longo said. He died at the scene.
“It’s just speculation at this point that the driver may have fallen asleep or dozed off,” Longo said. “I don’t know if they had been driving straight through or what.”
Wesley S. Lorenz, 46, was riding in the pickup with Saucier at the time. Lorenz was transported to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, where he was treated and released, Trooper Ron Sutton said in a press release.
Saucier’s pickup drifted left, hit a reflector post and he overcorrected, causing the pickup to roll on the pavement several times, Longo said.
“The actual crash scene was about 600 feet from where (he hit the post) to where it came to rest,” he said. “We had quite a debris field.”
Both Saucier and Lorenz were wearing seat belts and there was no evidence that alcohol was a factor, Longo said. Traffic was redirected for hours after the crash and finally began flowing in I-90’s westbound lanes about 8:15 a.m.
In the other fatal crash, two pickups traveling on U.S. 195 collided head-on about 5:30 a.m. just north of Rosalia, Washington State Patrol Trooper Kris Schweigert said.
Both pickups left the roadway after the collision and one of them caught fire. “Both drivers had died, probably on impact,” he said.
The crash killed 25-year-old Christopher Robert Rice, of Spangle. He was driving a 1988 Chevrolet pickup northbound at the time of the crash.
Also killed was 18-year-old Kelsey Dawn Roberts, of Priest River, Idaho. She was driving a 2002 Toyota pickup southbound when her vehicle crossed the center line and struck Rice’s pickup head-on, WSP Sgt. Lennie Walker said.
Investigators could not locate any witnesses to the crash, Schweigert said. “There was massive damage to both vehicles,” Schweigert said.
The cause has not been determined, he said. But the crash forced troopers to close the two-lane highway until about 11 a.m.
“At this time, it’s thought that (Roberts) was not wearing a seat belt but she did have an activated airbag,” Schweigert said. Rice “was wearing a seat belt but his truck did not have an airbag. The cause has not been determined.”
Investigators estimated that both pickups were traveling at highway speed, which is posted at 60 mph speed limit. “That’s quite an impact,” Schweigert said.
That fatal crash today was just four miles south from a head-on collision Monday between two semitrucks that seriously injured both drivers. In both U.S. 195 crashes this week, the highway was bare with clear weather. “I don’t think the roadway was a factor in either collision,” Schweigert said.
In the Monday crash, a 2000 Peterbilt tractor pulling two tanker trailers full of asphalt tar drifted into oncoming traffic, forcing several vehicles to evade. The truck, driven by 28-year-old Jason T. Ramirez, of Pingree, Idaho, clipped a Jeep Cherokee, forcing it to spin out and roll. Ramirez’s truck then slammed head-on into another semitruck.
Investigators took blood samples from Ramirez at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Schweigert said. “It’s believed he was under the influence of some drug” at the time of the crash, he said.
Both Ramirez and the other semitruck driver, William A. Hill, 35, of Spokane, remained in satisfactory condition Wednesday at Sacred Heart.