Crash near Hatton claims two lives
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 months AGO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | December 30, 2025 5:34 PM
HATTON — Two Othello men died in a single-vehicle collision Tuesday morning in Adams County, according to a statement from the Washington State Patrol.
At about 8 a.m., Apolinario Velasquez Ordonez was driving east in a 1997 Honda Odyssey on State Route 26 near Kulm Road two miles northwest of Hatton when he lost control of the vehicle on the icy road, according to the WSP. Velasquez Ordonez overcorrected and rolled the vehicle, which came to rest in a field south of the highway.
Two passengers were declared deceased at the scene: 48-year-old Nicolas Gregorio Matias and 23-year-old Edvin Matias Matias, according to the WSP. One passenger, Anselmo Perez Ordonez, 35, sustained injuries and was transported to Othello Community Hospital. Velasquez Ordonez was not injured, nor were the other passengers: Antonio Baten, 21; Evin A. Hernandez Hernandez, 30; and Romeo Matheas Verlaz, 28. All six were from Othello.
The cause of the accident was traveling too fast for conditions, the WSP wrote. It was unknown whether drugs or alcohol were a factor. The collision is under investigation.
Velasquez Ordonez is listed as in-custody with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, facing charges of Hit and Run involving injury or death, Vehicular Assault and Vehicular Homicide.
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