3 Tri-Cities drivers charged after investigations into wrecks that left passengers hurt

A man left hurt and screaming on a Richland hill was just one of three victims seriously injured in a trio of dramatic Tri-Cities 2023 crashes with drivers now facing charges.

Benton County prosecutors recently filed vehicular assault charges against three people in crashes that happened between August and December 2023.

In each, the alleged drivers left behind victims that with long-term serious injuries.

In August, the Subaru WRX that Lizbeth Garcia, 20, was driving skidded more than 400 feet on Bob Olson Parkway, leaving a passenger permanently paralyzed.

In October, a BMW tumbled end over end down a hill from Queensgate Drive, throwing a man into the hill with nearly all of his ribs broken, a busted ankle and fractured leg. The driver, Kristen N. Parks, 29, allegedly walked away.

Then in December, a pickup rolled at Plymouth Road near Tyrell Road throwing two men out and leaving a trail of full and empty alcohol bottles and drugs. The driver, Juan David I. Orozco, 21, appeared intoxicated when police questioned him, according to court documents.

None of the suspected drivers are in jail. Summons were issued for them to appear in court to be charged.

Parks and Garcia are each facing an aggravating factor of leaving their victims with excessive injuries.

Bob Olson Crash

Garcia was allegedly behind the wheel of a Subaru WRX on Aug. 15, while racing along Bob Olson Parkway about 12:49 a.m.

According to one of her passengers, the car reached 127 mph at one point. Garcia was allegedly racing another car and going about 98 mph when she lost control of the car, court documents said.

A passerby spotted the wreck and called 911.

When officers arrived, they found the car flipped and on its hood after sliding more than 400 feet, according to court documents. There were four people near the vehicle, including one woman who was later found to have two fractured vertebrae and serious damage to her spinal cord.

She is paralyzed from her chest to her toes and can’t move her arms between her elbows and fingers.

Queensgate Wreck

Park was allegedly driving a BMW at 80 mph in a 25 mph zone of Queensgate Drive in Richland early Oct. 20, when she lost control, according to court documents.

The car went off the side of the road, and flipped end over end 125 feet down a hill. Along the way, her passenger was thrown from the car.

Park allegedly walked away from the crash leaving her passenger behind.

He had a broken ankle, several broken ribs, broken vertebrae and broken leg. A witness called 911 after hearing someone yelling for help. He was taken to Kadlec for treatment.

He told investigators that he had just met Parks that night while bowling and they had been heading to “Badger Hill or something,” according to court documents.

Police followed a trail of blood from Park’s car to one of her friend’s home. They learned that she showed up there about 2:30 a.m. and knocked on his door.

He allowed her to get cleaned up, and after hearing that she had been in a crash, he tried convincing her to call police or medics. She refused. After several attempts, he said that she needed to leave if she wasn’t going to call police.

Police caught up with her about 7:30 p.m. after Parks went to the freestanding Kadlec Emergency Room on 19th Avenue.

While she didn’t provide a statement about the crash, she did ask how the man who was thrown from her car was doing.

Plymouth Crash

Juan David I. Orozco was allegedly driving drunk about 9 a.m. on Dec. 29, 2023 when he lost control of a pickup on Plymouth Road near Tyrell Road in rural southern Benton County.

The passerby who found the wreck told officers that it appeared to have rolled and threw two men from the truck. They remained nearby.

When Benton County deputies arrived they found two men who were both seriously hurt near the pickup. And along the path of the crash, officers found a trail of opened and unopened bottles of beer, tequila and vodka.

There was also clear bag with a “white powdery” substance and another with a large amount of marijuana inside.

While medical staff were checking on Orozco, deputies noticed that he was swaying side to side and had watery droopy eyes, both signs that he was intoxicated, according to court documents.

Police did get a search warrant for his blood, so it could be tested. The results of the test weren’t listed in court documents.

Orozco told medics that he was driving the truck when it crashed.

The passenger told investigators on the day after the crash that they had been with some girls in Kennewick the night before the crash and headed south about 7 a.m.

He also said that told officers that he would need four more surgeries and nearly lost his right leg because of the crash.