1 dead in collision near Coulee City

COULEE CITY — Alcohol and/or drugs reportedly played a role in a fatal Saturday afternoon collision south of Coulee City that took the life of a Tacoma woman.

About 2:40 p.m. Brent Reiner, 37, of Tacoma, was driving a 1999 Ford Expedition south on state Route 17, about seven miles south of Coulee City, when he reportedly lost control of the vehicle, crossed the centerline and traveled onto the northbound shoulder, according to the Washington State Patrol.

The Expedition rolled and both Reiner and his passenger, Sara Sherman, 37, of Tacoma, neither of whom were wearing seatbelt, were ejected out of the vehicle. Sherman died at the scene of the collision. Reiner was injured and treated and released from Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake.

The official cause of the collision is under investigation. Reiner has been booked into the Grant County Jail for vehicular homicide. SR-17 was closed in both directions for several hours as police investigated the cause of the collision and cleared the scene.

— Staff report