Snowy, icy roads send drivers crashing around Tri-Cities. Sheriff’s deputy car is hit

Friday evening’s snowfall left many Mid-Columbia drivers sliding and crashing.

A Franklin County sheriff’s patrol car was damaged Christmas Day when a driver lost control and plowed into it at 6:20 p.m.

The deputy had parked the car at Ringold and Glenwood roads to stop traffic about 15 miles north of the Pasco city limits, said the Washington State Patrol.

Jourdan Sweet, 31, of Moses Lake, was driving too fast for the conditions in a Chevy Malibu and hit a Dodge Durango stopped at the intersection and then hit the unoccupied deputy’s Ford Explorer, said the WSP.

Sweet was injured and take to Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco. She was cited for negligent second-degree driving.

The second driver, Faye Siegfried, 67, of Mesa, was not hurt.

Earlier on Christmas Day, another three-car collision happened on Interstate 82 about 3 p.m., just west of Benton City.

A driver from Union Gap was driving too fast on the slick highway and lost control, hitting two other cars.

His 16-year-old passenger from Yakima was injured and taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

No once else was hurt, said the WSP.

About an hour earlier in Richland, Selina K. Gilbert, 20, of West Richland, was driving too fast on the Highway 240 bypass when she lost control of her Chevy Impala near Swift Boulevard, said troopers.

She hit a Ford Escape driven by Kelsey C. Williams, 24, of Othello, who was hurt and taken to Kadlec.

Freezing fog this week will keep roads slick in the mornings around the Mid-Columbia region, says the National Weather Service.

This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 1:35 PM.