A California woman died in a collision involving Salem teenagers last Saturday north of Sublimity.
Oregon State Police responded to a crash involving two vehicles on Sept. 14 around 9:32 p.m. at the intersection of State Highway 214 and Southeast Cascade Highway, the agency said in a news release.
Police determined that Holly J. Seeley, 55, of Mountain View, California, was headed south in a Buick Encore when she entered the intersection, which is controlled by stop signs.
Her vehicle was struck by a Chevrolet 3500 headed east and driven by Angel Hernandez-Rocha, 18, of Salem. The crash caused both vehicles to spin off the roadway and into a field, according to the statement.
Police said a passenger in the Buick, Phyllis I. Russo, 88, of Mountain View, was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle. She was declared dead at the scene.
Seeley, the driver of the Buick, suffered a minor injury and was taken to a local hospital.
Hernandez-Rocha, the driver of the Chevrolet, and a passenger, 17-year-old Salem boy, also suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital. Two other passengers, both 17-year-old boys from Salem, were not injured.
“The highway was impacted for approximately seven hours during the on-scene investigation. Failure to obey a traffic control device is being considered the primary cause of the crash with operator impairment as an additional contributing factor,” state police said in the statement.
Agency spokesman Cpt. Kyle Kennedy said that no arrest had been made or a citation issued.
“All potential criminal prosecution will come at the end of the investigation — which is not uncommon,” he said in an email.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
