Crews repair Richland light post where 3 died in suspected street racing crash

Overnight Monday, Richland crews worked to replace a traffic signal pole involved in a horrific February fatal collision.

The utility pole at the corner of George Washington Way and Jadwin Avenue was to be taken apart, repaired and reassembled before 6 a.m. Tuesday.

It was damaged on Feb. 26 when Jennifer A. Duong, then 19, was allegedly racing with another car on George Washington Way and lost control.

She slammed into the pole, shearing the car in half and killing her three friends Andres E. Morfin, 20, Lianna V. Salazar, 19, and Daniel A. Trejo, 19.

Witnesses told investigators that she had been driving erratically, and she allegedly admitted to drinking a shot of vodka and 1 1/2 beers earlier in the night, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged her with three counts of vehicular homicide, with allegations that she was driving drunk and in a reckless manner.

Duong’s trial is set for Nov. 28. She was released from the Benton County jail after posting a $250,000 bond.

Damaged light pole

A tether had been securing the damaged pole since it was hit, said Richland Traffic Engineer John Deskins.

Replacing a sign post can be a lengthy process, he said.

There are only two to three companies that take the orders, and they wait until they have a lot of orders to do at once.

This post was further delayed because of a mistake when manufacturing the part, he said.

This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 4:24 AM with the headline "Crews repair Richland light post where 3 died in suspected street racing crash."