Kennewick motorcyclist killed in crash with 2 semi trucks on rural road

A 55-year-old Kennewick man died after losing control of his motorcycle while trying to pass a semi truck and trailer.

James Boles was heading south on his Harley-Davidson at 11:20 a.m. Monday on Road U Southeast near Warden, when he tried passing a slow-moving semi with a potato trailer, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

He hit the rear tire of the truck and lost control.

He was thrown into the path of a 2007 Freightliner and died at the scene.

The truck driver, Charles Keinholz, 55, of Moses Lake, was initially unaware that he hit Boles and continued driving. The sheriff’s office said he returned to the scene and cooperated with investigators.

Neither Keinholz nor the other driver, Oscar Cisneros Leal, 38, of Mexico, was hurt.

Investigators believe that excessive speed played a role in the crash.

The Grant County Coroner’s Office is planning an autopsy.