Sleepy semi driver causes 9-vehicle pileup in used car lot

An Idaho truck driver left quite the trail of destruction in Dayton on Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel of his semi and barreled into a used car lot.

A sleepy semi driver hit nine used cars and trucks with his brand new semi truck in Dayton.

at a Dayton car dealership.

Mark J. Diefenderfer, 55, of Post Falls, Idaho, was heading east on Highway 12 shortly after 2 p.m. Monday when he fell asleep, the Washington State Patrol said.

His 2020 Freightliner semi pulling a trailer slammed into a parked car on the side of the road, then flattened a stop sign and continued through Goff’s Used Cars parking lot.

The truck hit eight cars and trucks for sale in the lot including a 1976 Chevy pickup, 1972 Chevy tow truck, 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and 1986 Ford Bronco.

Diefenderfer was taken to Dayton General Hospital. His condition was not immediately available.

He was cited with second-degree negligent driving.