Driver dies after truck drifts into ditch, rolls
A 21-year-old Eastern Washington University student died Friday night after the 1993 Toyota truck he was driving crashed on Cheney-Plaza Road just south of Tareski Lane in Cheney.
Garrett Neer of Kennewick was northbound at about 11:40 p.m. when he drifted onto the road’s shoulder and into a ditch, continuing for several hundred feet, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
Neer was apparently trying to get back onto the roadway, but his speed and the steepness of the ditch prevented him, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The ditch ended and Neer’s truck hit a boulder, sending the vehicle back onto the roadway, where it rolled several times, crushing the cab.
Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash, but a toxicology report will be conducted. Results won’t be known for one to two months.
Neer was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.
– Meghann M. Cuniff
Albion, Wash.
Road signs painted with swastikas, slurs
A juvenile was arrested Saturday after 40 road signs in Albion, Wash., were spray painted with swastikas and racial slurs late Friday night or early Saturday morning, a news release from the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office said.
Other pieces of public property were also vandalized.
The juvenile, whose age was unavailable, was taken to Martin Hall. Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers called the vandalism “alarming” and said his office would make it a priority to find out who was responsible. Additional arrests may be made in the future.
Anyone with information about the vandalism can call (509) 397-6266.
– Meghann Cuniff
Pullman
Improperly stored charcoal causes fire
A fire caused by improperly stored charcoal briquettes did at least $100,000 in damage to a Pullman apartment complex just after midnight Saturday, fire officials said.
A resident at the Nez Perce apartments on 1445 N.E. N. Fairway Drive had tried to start a barbecue Friday night but stopped after thinking the coals had not caught fire. He placed them in a cardboard box in a storage shed attached to the back of the apartment, Pullman fire investigator Tony Nuttman said in a news release.
The coals later ignited, starting a fire in the shed that burned through the vinyl siding of the apartment building and into two units in the middle of the building, according to the release.
No one was seriously injured in the blaze, but two residents were transported to Pullman Regional Hospital, where they were treated for smoke inhalation and released.
Public safety officers from Washington State University, which owns the complex, arrived shortly before firefighters and got residents out of the building.
WSU has provided new housing for four students displaced by the fire, according to the release.
– Meghann M. Cuniff