Truck accident spills Gatorade, produce across in Ashland Oregon

A crash involving four commercial trucks partially closed northbound Interstate 5 in the Siskiyou Pass south of Ashland and left a mess of Gatorade and several thousand pounds of produce.

The crash occurred about 1 p.m. when the brakes in a commercial truck driven by Jose Castillo, 55, of Desert Springs, Calif., went out, said Sgt. Mark Byrd of the Oregon State Police.Castillo lost control of his truck as he drove down a hit with a 6 percent grade. He tried to drive between two other commercial trucks, driven by Timothy Gaubatz, 34, of Shelton, Wash., and Ravinder Singh, 22, of Salem, but collided with both of them, Byrd said. Both drivers had seen Castillo's truck approaching and attempted to move to the highway shoulder.
Jason Lee Kohl, 36, of Bellevue, Wash., also attempted to steer his commercial truck onto the shoulder, but his right-side mirror hit the side of Gaubatz's truck.

Travel was still restricted to one lane late tonight, and traffic was backed up, Byrd said. Byrd said the lane will remain closed until further notice. The Oregon Department of Transportation may have to sand the highway because of the spilled produce, he said.

Gaubatz was taken by ambulance to Ashland Community Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was injured. Castillo was cited for careless driving, Byrd said.