A month before retirement, Spokane County Sheriff’s sergeant killed while helping driver on I-90

A Spokane County Sheriff’s sergeant was killed Saturday morning after a motorcyclist struck the 34-year veteran as he was assisting a motorist remove a hay bale from Interstate 90 near Cheney.

Kenneth Salas, 59, planned to retire next month and had 30 work shifts left before his death, Sheriff John Nowels told reporters Saturday afternoon near the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Project outside the Public Safety Building in Spokane.

“Everyone is in shock,” Nowels said. “You can never mentally prepare for something like this to happen.”

A pickup truck hauling a trailer with hay was traveling about 7:50 a.m. east on I-90 near the Four Lakes exit, with Salas following behind in his patrol vehicle, according to Washington State Patrol Sgt. Greg Riddell. The pickup driver, 45-year-old Michael J. Brown, of Spokane, noticed one of the hay bales shifted, so he slowed and the bale fell off the trailer, according to Riddell.

Riddell said Brown pulled over to the right side of the interstate and Salas used his patrol car, with his emergency lights illuminated, to block the left lane where the bale fell.

Salas and Brown then tried to remove the bale from the road, Riddell said.

A third vehicle driving in the left lane noticed the road hazard and moved to the right lane, Riddell said. A motorcyclist, 39-year-old Bobby J. Robbins, of Malden, Washington, following that vehicle switched to the left lane, Riddell said. He said Robbins noticed the stopped patrol car and slowed to avoid hitting it while going around the patrol car on the left side. But, Robbins struck the front left of the car and Salas.

Nowels said Salas used his radio to call for an ambulance. His fellow deputies and medical professionals provided medical aid.

Riddell said Salas was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center where he died. Robbins was also taken to Sacred Heart with a serious leg injury. Riddell said Robbins was listed in serious but stable condition Saturday afternoon. Brown was uninjured.

Riddell said investigators believe no one was driving “inappropriately,” no drugs or alcohol were involved, so no one has been charged at this time. WSP is investigating.

Traffic on I-90 was backed up for miles in both directions, Riddell said.

He called the incident a “horrible circumstance” that happened “so quickly.”

Nowels said there was no malice involved. It was simply a crash that “just happened.”

“It was an accident, and sometimes that’s what’s tough, is to make sense of something that we’re not gonna make sense of,” he said.

Salas’ body was taken from Sacred Heart to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office, located east of downtown Spokane, in a procession of Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Valley Police Department, Spokane Police Department, WSP and Spokane Fire Department vehicles.

“It’s a tough day for our community and for law enforcement,” Nowels said. “Sgt. Salas was a friend of mine.”

Nowels said Salas, who he worked with for 28 years, was in his office Friday saying he planned to retire Sept. 30, his 60th birthday. He shared his post-retirement plans with Nowels and was at peace with his decision, Nowels said.

“I’m glad I got to spend that moment with him and hear what his plans were,” Nowels said. “It’s a very tough time for the people who worked for him, who worked with him, because he was such a good and professional deputy.”

Salas started his 34-year law enforcement career as a Spokane County corrections officer before joining the sheriff’s office as a patrol deputy, according to a sheriff’s office news release. Over the years, he also served as a school resource deputy, on the traffic unit and on the Emergency Operations Team.

Salas earned the rank of detective and corporal in 2004. He was promoted to sergeant five years later and assigned as the downtown dayshift patrol sergeant supervisor.

Salas also served more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a technical sergeant with the Washington Air National Guard.

“You can’t work somewhere for 34 years without influencing thousands of people, and Ken certainly did influence people positively,” Nowels said.

He said he investigated fatal traffic collisions with Salas for three years.

“He was a very important member of our team, and he showed up day after day for 34 years serving this community,” Nowels said. “And today, he ended up having to pay a price that no one should have to pay just by doing what was right and stopping to help somebody clear things out of the roadway. It’s gonna take a lot for this agency and this community to process what happened to him.”

Nowels called Salas extremely “technically savvy.” He even designed some of the computer systems the sheriff’s office used.

“He was just always somebody who got in and was willing to do the work. A great personality,” he said. “He was the nicest man that you could ever hope to meet.”

Salas, who leaves behind a wife, was always there for the men and women he served with, Nowels said.

“I think he took the idea of being a servant leader to heart,” he said. “And I think the men and women who worked with him and worked for him would tell you that they just absolutely loved working for him.”

Nowels said the sheriff’s office is a family, in many ways.

“When you serve with people, you bleed and sweat together, cry together, and somebody’s taken from you like that, I mean, those men and women were working with Sgt. Salas and talking to him six hours ago, and he’s gone,” Nowels said. “So obviously, it’s tough to process for everybody involved.”

Nowels said his office received an outpouring of support Saturday from other first responder agencies and community members.

Several agencies, including Spokane police, Cheney police, Pullman police and the Whitman and Grant County sheriff’s offices, extended their condolences on Facebook and shared the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s news release about Salas’ death.

Spokane police changed its Facebook page profile picture to the sheriff’s office’s profile photo of the sheriff’s badge with a black line through the center of it, signifying the agency is mourning the line-of-duty death of Salas.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown ordered flags at city facilities to be lowered to half-staff through Monday to honor Salas.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Sergeant Salas, who was killed while serving our community,” Brown said in a news release. “The City of Spokane extends its deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and colleagues with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.”

Nowels said those who want to honor Salas can place flowers at the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Project outside the Public Safety Building, 1100 W. Mallon Ave.

The sheriff’s office is making arrangements to honor the fallen sergeant. The Behind the Badge Foundation, which provides support for Washington families and law enforcement agencies who have experienced a line-of-duty death, will help with funeral arrangements.

Salas is the first Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy to die in the line of duty since Deputy James Slater died while responding to a stolen car call in 2003. Slater drove off Grove Road, southwest of Spokane, on a sharp curve and struck a pole, then his patrol car rolled 60 to 70 feet before coming to rest in a ditch, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting.

Nowels said Salas was simply doing his job, and sometimes traffic accidents happen.

“He wasn’t doing anything that we wouldn’t want him doing,” Nowels said. “Just, sometimes life throws curveballs, and it did today.”