WENATCHEE — Police and court records show the truck driver faulted in Thursday’s fatal three-vehicle crash near Orondo caused a collision one year ago near the same location, under eerily similar circumstances.
On Thursday Kenneth A. Hahn, 54, of Yakima, allegedly drifted out of his own northbound lane on Highway 97, struck a southbound passenger car and then rammed into the southbound Orondo School District bus behind it, which carried some 45 students.
The driver of the passenger car, Carmela Cuellar Morales, 22, of Orondo, died at the scene. Her sister, passenger Aurora Cuellar Morales, 12, was treated and released from Confluence Health Central Washington Hospital, as were all the students.
Bus driver Pamela K. Robertson, 53, was in satisfactory condition Friday, and Washington State Patrol troopers said her choice to veer left rather than right may have spared the children further injury.
Investigators believe Hahn fell asleep at the wheel, leading to the 8:10 a.m. crash.
The crash took place at milepost 218, about 20 miles north of Wenatchee. On Feb. 13, 2014, Hahn caused a crash at milepost 223, drifting out of the northbound lane while driving an identical truck.
Police and court records show Hahn was cited for crossing the center lane at milepost 223, where his truck hit a 2004 Honda Pilot. In that case too, driver Jose Torres Reyes swerved left rather than right, avoiding a head-on collision. Hahn’s truck struck the Pilot in the rear panel.
Torres suffered injuries to his neck and wrist. His passenger, Onelia Izazaga Villa of Brewster, received a neck injury, while Hahn’s neck and back were injured.
In both collisions, Hahn was driving a 1998 International box truck owned by Diamond Freight Systems, a Yakima-based shipping company that also has offices in Spokane. A woman who answered the phone Friday at Diamond said the company would have no comment, then hung up.
Hospital officials said they could not give out information about Hahn’s condition on Friday afternoon.
