No brakes results in belly-up

A truck loaded with roofing materials went out of control on the Highway 272 grade into Colfax and crashed onto its top on Main Street just before 3 p.m. Monday. The driver of the truck, Harold Willey, 56, Ritzville, was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital and then flown by LifeFlight to Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane, according to Colfax Officer Grant Silver.

The passenger, Justin Sowl, 26, Spokane, sustained minor scrapes and lacerations. He was also taken to the hospital in a second Colfax ambulance.

Silver said the brakes on the truck, a 1973 GMC, failed as the truck descended the grade, and Willey attempted a right turn at the Main Street intersection but the loaded truck was going too fast. The truck went over onto its top and came to a stop upside down on the west side of Main Street in front of the Hen House Chicks and the Morgan Building.

“It was just a miracle that he didn’t hit somebody else at that time of day,” Silver commented.

Jason and Jennifer Cooper of Colfax were driving southbound on Main and actually saw the truck come around the corner and go over. Cooper, who said they escaped being hit by the truck by a matter of seconds, applied his brakes to avoid the truck. The Coopers used towels to stop the bleeding on the two men in the truck who were able to exit through the truck’s passenger side window. The driver’s side of the truck was crushed.

Time of the crash was 2:53 p.m.

Willey was driving for a Spokane Valley firm. Main Street traffic was diverted to Mill Street while the accident scene was cleared.