Olympia, WA : Pastor, 13 others injured in Highway 12 crashes near Touchet on Saturday, December 10th, 2016

The crashes that closed Highway 12 west of Touchet for most of Saturday afternoon left a Tri-City pastor critically injured and sent 13 other people to area hospitals.

Brent Johnsen — a pastor at Eastlake Tri-Cities church, which meets in the Uptown Theatre in Richland — was in critical condition Sunday at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland. Johnsen was driving a car involved in the second of two crashes Saturday.

At 12:50 p.m., Ryan Watson, 28, of Richland lost control of the Chrysler PT Cruiser he was driving west on the highway about eight miles west of Touchet, police said.

He crossed into the eastbound lane and hit a Toyota Camry driven by Angel Rivera, 32, of Hermiston, and a Chevrolet pickup driven by Rene Soto, 24, of Salem, Ore., police said.

All three drivers were injured, along with their passengers, including Beatriz Soto Lopez, 32, of Hermiston; children ages 5, 9, 12 and 13 from Hermiston; and a 6-year-old from Salem.

Watson was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, and other patients were taken to St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla.

Source :
Pastor, 13 others injured in Highway 12 crashes near Touchet