Former worker killed in ‘intense’ wrong-way crash with patrol car on Hanford site

The man who crashed his car head-on into a Hanford Patrol pickup Wednesday night at the nuclear site was a former worker there, said Benton County Sheriff Mike Clark.

Gilbert Juarez, 49, of the Tri-Cities, died in the high-speed collision, and two Hanford officers were injured and taken to a hospital.

Clark said the officers’ injuries are not life-threatening.

Information about Juarez, including when and how long he worked at Hanford and why he entered the site Wednesday night, was not immediately available on Thursday.

Benton County Sheriff’s Office has a Department of Energy contract that covers traffic and crash investigations on the nuclear site near Richland.

At about 7 p.m. Wednesday, a 2019 Toyota Camry went through the Wye Barricade, the secure entrance closest to Richland, at a speed reported to 911 dispatchers of 80 to 100 mph. He apparently crossed into the oncoming lane where there is no crossing arm to drive onto the nuclear site.

Juarez then continued speeding north in the southbound lane of Route 4, according to Sheriff Clark.

There had been no reports of erratic driving before Gilbert reached the gate, Clark said.

A Hanford Patrol pickup that apparently was responding to the speeder at the barricade was hit by Juarez about four miles north of the barricade.

The sheriff described the crash as “intense,” and said damage to the vehicles was extensive.

The Wye Barricade on Route 4 South was opened to workers entering the site Thursday morning after being closed for a few hours. Traffic was being rerouted just past the barricade until about 3 a.m.

The Department of Energy has said only that the Benton County Sheriff’s Office is collecting information about the collision and that additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

The 580-square-mile Hanford nuclear site adjacent to Richland in Eastern Washington was used from World War II through the Cold War to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program.

The nation now spends about $3.2 billion a year at the site as environmental cleanup of extensive radioactive and chemical contamination and waste continues.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 1:59 PM.