Separate auto crashes leave two people dead

Serious auto accidents in the Spokane area killed two and injured several more on Wednesday.

• One man was killed and two others were badly injured in a crash in Otis Orchards.

A 2004 Dodge Ram pickup hit a power pole and a tree then rolled off of Wellesley Avenue around 1:15 a.m., a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said.

Taylor Stacy, 18, was killed when he was apparently thrown from the vehicle, the release said. Michael Steinbach, 20, was in serious condition at a local hospital. Derrick Wilcox, 24, was in critical condition at Kootenai Medical Center.

A preliminary investigation showed speed and alcohol were factors in the collision, the release said.

Anyone who saw these men Tuesday or Wednesday is asked to call Detective Dave Thornburg at (509) 477-2710.

• A man was killed in a one-car crash in west Spokane County.

The Washington State Patrol said 35-year-old Maurice Frazier, of Cheney, was killed shortly after midnight when his car went out of control and rolled off state Highway 904 southwest of Cheney. He was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the car.

• South Perry Street was closed from 16th to 18th for several hours Wednesday afternoon while police processed the scene of a two-car collision that seriously injured an elderly woman. Rescue personnel extricated a woman in her 80s from a car, and she was taken to a hospital with facial and head trauma.

Police said a Dodge Durango drove through a stop sign and struck the car’s driver door. The Durango driver, a woman in her 30s, sustained minor injuries.