News Bites for Sept. 26, 2023

CLE ELUM — One person sustained minor injuries in a collision involving four semi-trucks and a passenger vehicle on Interstate 90 on Monday morning, according to a statement from the Washington State Patrol.

At about 4 a.m., all five vehicles were headed east at milepost 79, four miles west of Cle Elum, according to the WSP. A semi driven by Karanveer Singh, 35, of Renton, jackknifed and blocked the roadway. Another semi, driven by Alejandro Jimenez Garduno, 45, of Kent, struck Singh’s vehicle. Anthony N. Eaton, 57, of Arlington, Ore., driving a 2018 Honda CRV SUV, attempted to avoid Singh’s truck and sideswiped it. A third semi driven by Alfonza Edmond, 71, of Eagle Point, Ore., struck Singh’s rig as well, whereupon both Singh’s and Edmond’s trucks were struck by a fourth semi driven by Luis D. Lopez Arellano, 38, of Surrey, British Columbia.

Jimenez Garduno sustained minor injuries but was not transported, according to the WSP. None of the drivers had passengers, all were wearing their seat belts and neither drugs nor alcohol was a contributing factor. Singh was charged with failure to reduce speed for conditions.

MOSES LAKE — Law enforcement officers stopped a suspected DUI driver in a motor home in Moses Lake over the weekend, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Richard D. Johnson, 67, of Moses Lake was booked into Grant County Jail on charges of attempting to elude and hit-and-run of an unattended vehicle, according to GCSO records.

Around 3:20 a.m. Sunday, officers were called to the Circle K minimart at Stratford and Valley roads, according to the statement. Witnesses described a man, later identified as Johnson, in the parking lot driving a motorhome, striking a parked car, revving the RV’s motor and acting strangely. Johnson then departed westbound on Valley Road, where a sheriff’s deputy passed him and headed east to answer the call.

The deputy attempted to pull Johnson over near Paxson Drive, the statement said, but Johnson failed to yield and began to elude the deputy. Deputies and Moses Lake Police pursued him in the belief that he was driving under the influence. Spikes were laid on Airway Drive ahead of the motor home, which flattened some of the vehicle’s tires. Johnson swerved and struck an MLPD vehicle and continued on. Nobody was injured in that collision, the statement said.

Johnson turned onto State Route 17 and continued on, according to the GCSO. Again spikes were deployed, and this time enough tires were flattened to disable the vehicle. K-9 Chewbacca challenged Johnson and he surrendered quickly, the statement said.