DUI wreck leaves 3-year-old stuck on RR tracks. Prosser man is killed in 2nd crash

A Prosser man is dead, and a 3-year-old was hurt in separate crashes overnight.

In one wreck, a 25-year-old Prosser man was killed Monday night trying to pass on a rural two-lane highway in Yakima County.

A few hours later, a woman accused of driving drunk went off Highway 22 just east of the Benton-Yakima county line with a toddler in her car and got stuck on some railroad tracks.

The first crash happened at 7:20 p.m. Monday when Julian Armas was driving a Ford Escort north on Highway 823 two miles northeast of Selah, the Washington State Patrol said in a release.

Armas tried to pass a vehicle on a stretch of highway marked as a no passing zone, according to pictures from the area.

He lost control and hit a Ford F-350 in the oncoming lane, the state patrol said. Armas died at the scene, and the truck driver from Yakima, Jose A. Banales, 44, was taken to a Yakima hospital.

The second crash was at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, when the WSP said Cynthia Robles, 21, of Prosser, was intoxicated and lost control of her Jeep Cherokee.

She was headed west on Highway 22 with a 3-year-old boy inside, said WSP.

The Jeep rolled and landed on its wheels. Then Robles continues driving east until she high-centered the SUV on the railroad tracks.

She was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and the boy was sent to Prosser Memorial Health. Their conditions were not immediately available. Both were wearing their seat belts.

The state patrol cited Robles for DUI and reckless endangerment.

This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 10:51 AM.