A Lebanon teen was killed and a Sweet Home-area girl was severely injured Friday evening, Dec. 5, in a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of McDowell Creek Drive and Berlin Road north of Sweet Home.
Linn County Sheriff Michelle Duncan said Linn County Dispatch received a 911 call reporting the collision, with occupants trapped, at approximately 9:06 p.m.
Deputies arrived and located a 2017 Ram 3500 that had been struck in the intersection by a 2002 Mazda B-Series pickup. Deputies learned that the operator of the Mazda, Zayne Hannah-Gray, 19, of Lebanon, sustained fatal injuries in the crash.
A passenger in the Mazda, whom the Sheriff’s Office did not name, was transported to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
The operator of the Ram 3500, Jeff Gainer, a local chef who operates Cheffry’s Gourmet Grub, also was transported to Good Sam with serious injuries, the Sheriff’s Office said. His daughter, Aurora, 11, a passenger in the pickup, was transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland with life-threatening injuries.
According to Duncan and individuals who were at the scene, an investigation revealed that the Ram 3500 was struck at a high rate of speed on the passenger side by the Mazda, which was northbound on Berlin and failed to stop at the posted stop sign. The Ram was traveling eastbound.
Alcohol has also been determined to be a factor in the crash, Duncan said. Due to the seriousness of the crash, the Multi-Agency Investigation Team was called to assist with the investigation, the Sheriff said.
Mack Knebel, a staff member at The New Era, was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
“I heard the crash,” said Knebel, who lives in the area. “I got in the car and drove to the intersection. It was a mess. Walking up to the accident, I almost tripped over a car battery.”
He and another neighbor saw that the red Mazda was on top of the Dodge.
“He hit the dually hard enough to push it at least 30 feet,” Knebel said. “Jeff was traveling in the right lane on McDowell. It hit him hard.”
Knebel said a spatula from Gainer’s truck was found in a neighbor’s yard.
Gainer’s wife, Dr. Tessa Reff, who practices in Sweet Home, arrived and assisted as emergency responders worked to free the girl, who was trapped in the pickup.
Reff said that her daughter underwent emergency surgery in Corvallis for a brain injury, then was transported to Randall’s Children’s Hospital in Portland. On Monday she was alert and was able to have her breathing tube removed, Reff said.
“She has movement in her extremities, and is alert and talking, knows where she goes to school, knows her dog’s name,” she said. “We’re very relieved. She still has a long way to go before she comes home.”
Deputies were assisted at the scene by emergency responders from the Sweet Home Fire and the Lebanon Fire District.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Linn County Sheriff’s Office at (541) 967-3950.