Woman dies after friends beg her not to get into a pickup in a park near Kennewick

A woman is dead after her friends pleaded with her not to get into a pickup in Hover Park in Finley early Saturday morning, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

Jacob M. Reed of Iowa was spinning the tires of a Ford F250 and racing back and forth on Toothaker Road about 1 a.m., according to sheriff’s office reports.

Still, the woman, whose name and age were not immediately available, got into the pickup with Reed and he took off at a high speed toward South Meals Road.

The truck slid sideways as its tires spun, going off the road near the railroad tracks. It went into a ditch and rolled, said the sheriff’s office Facebook post.

Neither Reed nor the woman who died were wearing seat belts, they said.

Reed was taken to Trios Health Southridge hospital and then flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with serious injuries.

This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 11:31 AM.