Six-car crash closes Division

Two drivers apparently racing up North Ruby collided Friday, causing a six-car wreck that closed both directions of North Division Street for about seven hours.

“I honestly don’t remember the last time we shut down the entire thing,” Spokane police Officer John Gately said.

The cars crashed near Division and Cleveland about 8 a.m., when a Ford Probe and a Dodge Durango that appeared to be racing north hit each other and careened over the median, crossing into oncoming traffic in the southbound lanes of Division, Gately said.

The Dodge Durango flipped onto the driver’s side, striking three southbound cars, while the Ford Probe ended up in front of a Ford pickup, he said.

According to Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, the driver of the Probe, Lucas M. Clevenger, 19, cut off the other driver.

The other driver is not being identified because he is a juvenile, DeRuwe said.

Two people were taken to the hospital with injuries; Gately said the injured included Clevenger and the driver of a white car traveling south on Division.

Clevenger’s injuries included broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken left leg and a punctured lung, Gately said.

The driver of the white car complained of a sore neck, back and arms, he said.

Gately said speeding along this area of Division and Ruby is common, and it at times includes racing.

Depending on the outcome of the investigation, charges against the drivers of the racing cars could include vehicular assault because of the injuries to the occupant of one of the cars they hit.

Investigators spent the day taking pictures, measuring car tracks and inspecting grooves in the median to determine what happened and how fast the speeding vehicles were traveling.

They will recommend charges to prosecutors, DeRuwe said.