By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Three crashes in South Lewis County on Saturday – including a head-on collision on state Route 506 near Vader – left all but one injured person with cuts, scrapes and sore necks or backs.
Rodney S. Creech, 18, of Chehalis, however, was airlifted with a broken arm and possible head and internal injuries after a single-vehicle wreck about three miles west of Winlock, according to responders.
Troopers were called about 8:30 p.m. to the gravel portion of Jones Road where the pickup in which Creech was a passenger, missed a curve, skidded broadside and rolled onto its top, according to the Washington State Patrol.
The 1996 Toyota was described as totaled and troopers blame speed for the incident. The investigating trooper reported he suspected alcohol or drugs might be involved.
The driver, Brandon M. Cruzan, 20, also of Chehalis, was taken to Providence Centralia Hospital where he was treated and has been released, according to a hospital spokesperson. The state patrol reported Creech was flown to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. A spokesperson there said today he had no information a patient by that name was seen there, which either means he was taken somewhere else or he was seen there but requested no information be released about him.
Just a half hour later, an eastbound 2004 Dodge Neon on state Route 506 reportedly crossed the centerline and struck a 2002 Ford Taurus, the state patrol reported.
The crash, two and half miles east of Vader destroyed both cars and sent two Winlock residents to Providence Centralia Hospital. Thomas D. Rodriguez, 56, and Betty L. Hack, 78, who were traveling in the Taurus have both been released.
The occupants of the Neon – the driver Collin W. Rider, 21, and Nathaniel J. Moldenhauer, 19, both of Vader, were reportedly not injured.
And at about 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, troopers were called to Interstate 5 just north of the Winlock-Toledo exit where a northbound motorhome pulling a flatbed trailer tried to change lanes and forced a 2003 Honda CRV over, before the Honda lost control, struck the motorhome, rolled over and landed on its side, the state patrol reported.
The scene was somewhat chaotic, because the Honda was traveling with a large group and there were dozens of bystanders and vehicles that stopped, some in the inside shoulder and median, according to a responder.
Two women and a man in the Honda, from Shoreline, were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital. The 33-year-old female driver and a 68-year-old male were treated and have been released. Fifty-nine year-old Shoatsehay Bezabag was admitted to the hospital and was listed in good condition this morning.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter