Deadly crash still being investigated
Keith Kinnaird News Editor | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 12 years, 6 months AGO
SANDPOINT — A chain-reaction crash on U.S. Highway 95 crash that killed an Oregon truck driver nearly six months ago remains under investigation, according to Idaho State Police.
No charges have been filed in connection with the Jan. 21 pileup at Cocolalla Creek that claimed the life of James Mady, a 49-year-old from Creswell, Ore. State police declined a public records request for toxicology reports from the crash, citing the ongoing investigation.
State police also indicated in the notice of denial that the toxicology reports are exempt from public disclosure for reasons of confidentiality.
State police said Zachary Henager was southbound in a Mazda coupe when he lost control, crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer driven by a 58-year-old from Colville, Wash.
That northbound semi then collided with Mady’s tractor-trailer, which was southbound, the report said.
Mady was killed and Henager, 23, of Sandpoint, was seriously injured. The driver of the semi Henager crashed into was injured, but he also survived.
As that series of collisions unfolded, a southbound Peterbilt hauling an empty fuel tank and a northbound Volvo tractor-trailer sideswiped one another while attempting to avoid the snarl of wreckage they were bearing down on. Neither of those drivers were injured, according to ISP.
A crash report obtained by The Bee in a February public records request cited Henager’s over-correction and excessive speed as contributing circumstances in the crash. The toxicology results were still pending at that time.
MORE IMPORTED STORIES
ARTICLES BY KEITH KINNAIRD NEWS EDITOR
Deputies remain hospitalized
SANDPOINT — Bonner County sheriff’s deputies who were shot in the line of duty on Monday remained hospitalized on Tuesday.
Unrelated deaths under investigation
CLARK FORK — Sheriff’s detectives are probing two unrelated deaths that occurred in eastern Bonner County last week.
Highway intersection project OK'd
PRIEST RIVER — The Idaho Transportation Department is gearing up for a intersection improvement project to ease congestion on U.S. Highway 2 and Highway 57.