Two traffic deaths bring weekend total to three

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A 19-year-old Kittitas man and a 45-year-old Sunnyside man died in separate weekend crashes, bringing to three the number of traffic deaths in the region since Friday night, authorities said.

The victims were identified as passenger Kory Huss of Kittitas and Juventino Arredondo  of Sunnyside.

The crash involving Huss was reported about 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Rue Road in the Kittitas Canyon, about 14 miles north of Ellensburg, according to a news release from the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office.

Huss was riding in a 2001 GMC pickup that left the roadway, hit a culvert and flipped, Undersheriff Clayton Myers said in the release. He was partially ejected and died at the scene.

Deputies blamed the crash on alcohol and speed. They said none of the occupants — including driver Nicholas Elliot’s three young children —

were wearing seat belts.

 Elliot, a 26-year-old Ellensburg resident, was jailed on suspicion of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless endangerment.

Another of his passengers — identified as 18-year-old KC Laub of Ellensburg — suffered a hip injury and possibly a shoulder injury, Myers said. The other occupants either weren’t hurt or sustained only minor injuries.

Myers said it was the first fatal incident in Kittitas County for the Memorial Day weekend.

Arredondo, the killed Sunnyside driver, also was not wearing a seat belt, state troopers said.

About 2:20 a.m. Sunday, he was headed west on Emerald Road about a mile west of Sunnyside when his Chevrolet Tahoe left the roadway to the left, according to a news release from the Washington State Patrol.

The sport utility vehicle hit hop poles before Arredondo overcorrected and traveled to the right side of the road, bringing the vehicle to rest against a power pole. He was ejected and died at the scene, according to the news release.

Troopers said they did not know whether he was intoxicated. The cause of the crash remained under investigation.

In the other deadly crash, a 56-year-old Yakima woman was killed after two vehicles collided Friday evening on the Upper Nile Road in western Yakima County.

Troopers and other police officers across the state are on the lookout this weekend for drunken drivers and seat belt violations.

The National Safety Council estimates that nearly 370 traffic fatalities will be reported during the Memorial Day weekend in the United States.
Another 19,400 will be seriously injured, the safety council estimates.