Moses Lake man dies in Royal City collision

ROYAL CITY — A Moses Lake man was killed when a car crossed the centerline and hit his car near Royal City Tuesday afternoon.  

Patrick Champion, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision on Dodson Road Southwest near Frenchman Hills Southwest. Champion was driving north on Dodson Road when a car driven by Aram Garnick, 21, Royal City, crossed the centerline and hit Champion’s car head-on, said Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, in a media release. 

Garnick was injured and transported to Othello Community Hospital. The collision occurred about 4:45 p.m. 

Originally GCSO deputies concluded Champion had crossed the centerline, Foreman said.  

“Investigators have reassessed witness statements which seemed to conflict with evidence at the scene,” Foreman said. With the additional investigation, officers determined it was Garnick that crossed into the other lane, rather than Champion, he said.