Suspected DUI crash closes Argonne Road

A man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs after he ran a red light and hit a car at Argonne Road and Broadway Avenue in Spokane Valley Thursday afternoon.

The man was driving a Ford F250 pickup south on Argonne in the far eastern lane when he ran the light, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Chamberlin. The truck hit a bright green Ford Fiesta heading west and launched into the air, flipping before landing on its roof on the west side of the street. The force of the crash broke the truck’s rear axle and a tire flew off, landing west of of intersection near a parking lot.

The windshield of the Fiesta was caved in and the hood torn off, but the driver was not hurt. “She’s pissed,” Chamberlin said. “She liked that car.”

The bed of the truck was filled with construction materials that spilled everywhere. “It was a mess,” Chamberlin said. “It was scattered for half a block.”

The driver of the truck was also unhurt.

The intersection was completely shut down for several hours while two tow truck drivers from Spokane Valley Towing worked to clean up the mess. They were helped by the manager of the Argonne Terrace Apartments, Ron Clapper, as well as his wife and one of the tenants.

Debris from the crash covered the apartment complex lawn near the corner and Clapper used a device that was essentially a giant magnet on wheels to pull spilled screws and nails out of the grass. “There’s all kinds of screws in here,” he said.