Paterson man killed in ATV crash near town

Published: February 6, 2013 

PATERSON -- The Benton County Sheriff's Office is investigating an all-terrain vehicle crash near Paterson that left a man dead and a teen seriously injured.

Lt. Chuck Jones told the Herald the accident happened about 7 p.m. Sunday when several people at a Super Bowl party were riding ATVs in the hills around a farm off of Highway 221.

One ATV carrying two people didn't return to the party, and a search party was formed.

The search party found the vehicle carrying Darrell Lenover, 22, of Paterson, and a 15-year-old girl had crashed into an irrigation pump and pipeline, Jones said.

The sheriff's office is not releasing the girl's name because she is a minor, but the East Oregonian identified her as McKinsey Holwegner of Hermiston.

Lenover died at the scene. Holwegner was taken to PMH Medical Center in Prosser, but Jones said he believed she later had been transferred to another hospital for treatment.

No information was available about her condition Tuesday.

The crash is under investigation. Jones said speed was a factor.

Lenover's obituary, printed in the East Oregonian, said he was engaged to Mariah Watts of Paterson and that the couple were expecting a child.

His Facebook page said he worked as a supervisor at Wyatt Enterprise, a Hermiston trucking company, and planned to attend Blue Mountain Community College in the fall.

He was a native of Danville, Ill.

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