KENNEWICK — A Pasco man and his passenger were hospitalized after a westbound SUV crossed the median and rolled on state Highway 240 near Columbia Park on Thursday afternoon, Aug. 6, according to the Washington State Patrol and court documents cited by local reporting.

Garnet S. Willis, 57, of Pasco, was driving a 2003 Dodge Durango when the vehicle went into the median and flipped alongside Columbia Park, the patrol reported. His passenger, Justice N. Davis, 25, of Richland, was also taken to the hospital. Both were transported to Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

Dispatch reports described the Durango rolling five times before ending up on the other side of the median near the park entrance shortly before 4 p.m., according to Tri-City Herald coverage. Afternoon traffic was disrupted; one eastbound lane was closed for a time, and the Washington State Department of Transportation said conditions were back to normal by about 5:30 p.m.

Benton County deputies found Willis and Davis outside the SUV, court documents said. Willis told a deputy he did not know how the crash happened and also claimed he was not the driver, according to those documents. A witness reported that the Durango had been speeding before it crossed the median and that Willis was in the driver’s seat.

The Washington State Patrol took over the crash investigation. The patrol’s initial account said drugs and/or alcohol were a factor and that the cause remained under investigation. Willis was not wearing a seat belt and faced possible charges; Davis was wearing a seat belt, the patrol reported.

Court documents later cited by the Tri-City Herald said Willis had lethargic speech and movement, with pupils that appeared very dilated and cloudy — findings a trooper noted as unusual on a sunny, bright day. Willis refused an examination to determine whether he was intoxicated. A drug recognition expert believed he was under the influence of a stimulant, the documents said.

Davis suffered multiple vertebral fractures and a broken ankle, according to the court-document reporting. Willis pleaded not guilty — described in that coverage as an innocent plea — to one count of vehicular assault in Benton County Superior Court and was being held in the Benton County jail on $50,000 bail.

The same reporting said Willis also faced a separate Franklin County Superior Court matter from June 17, in which he allegedly ran from a state trooper near 10th Avenue and Ainsworth Street in Pasco and had been out on $5,000 bond in that case. Older prior convictions were noted as mostly at least two decades old.

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