Dust Devils player and friends were headed to Richland ‘after party’ when they crashed
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tri-City Dust Devils outfielder remains hospitalized after early Friday rollover crash.
- Driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular assault for allegedly driving drunk.
- Crash followed night at bar; police report signs of intoxication and speeding.
A 22-year-old Tri-City Dust Devils player remained in critical condition Monday after being thrown from a car when it flipped in Richland last week.
A Tri-City Dust Devils player was heading to a party with three women early Friday when the allegedly drunk driver lost control at a neighborhood roundabout, said newly filed court documents.
Rio Foster, an outstanding outfielder in the Los Angeles Angels organization, and another passenger were not wearing seat belts when the 2007 Mercedes crashed through a fence and hit a utility pole on Van Giesen Street at Thayer Drive.
The driver, Ashante Q. Sanders-Jackson, 22, and another passenger also were injured and taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center. She later was booked into the Benton County jail on three counts of vehicular assault.
The Hermiston woman appeared in Benton County Superior Court by video Monday afternoon. Her bail was set at $200,000 and she is allowed to go back to Oregon if she’s released.
Court documents say the Hermiston woman told investigators they had been drinking at the Daisy Ranch Saloon at the Uptown Shopping Center and were heading to an “after-party” that Foster knew about.
He was riding in the front passenger seat, and the two other women were in the backseat.
Roundabout crash
Police believe Sanders-Jackson was speeding west on the 1500 block of Van Giesen Street about 2 a.m. when the Mercedes lost control on the turn, court documents said.
Foster and Chloe Sanders, 23, were ejected and seriously hurt. She has since been released from the hospital.
Sanders-Jackson and a third woman were near Sanders, when the first officer arrived.
He reported noticing the smell of alcohol on Sanders-Jackson’s breath, and that her eyes appeared watery. She also “made comments about how she wasn’t even supposed to be driving.”
She struggled to perform the field sobriety tests including balancing on one leg without using her arms, said the documents.
She initially agreed to do the preliminary breath test, but changed her mind, said the documents. A blood sample was later drawn under a court order for lab testing.
Player of the month
Foster was the Northwest League player of the month in August and named a spring breakout for the Angels organization. The outfielder started this season with the Dust Devils in April.
Just the night the crash, the Dust Devils were playing the Hillsboro, Ore., Hops at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, and Foster was credited with leading the team to victory with his hitting.
Team members voted Friday to cancel the night’s game against Hillsboro because of the crash. They returned to playing on Saturday and Sunday, finishing the remainder of the season.
The Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery told The Associated Press, “I’m just thinking about him and his family. He’s a great kid. We had him in spring training. He was a little bit of a later round draft pick, and he’s done some good things. We saw him in spring training, and he was named (Northwest League) player of the month recently, so his career is in a good spot.”
This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 2:25 PM.