By Luke Hegdal

Staff writer

HERMISTON At approximately 4:45 Monday afternoon Officer Dave Cook, of the Hermiston Police Department, watched as a white sedan crossed First Street traveling east on Highland Avenue and drove up a power pole guy wire near Rite-Aid in Hermiston.

According to witnesses, the driver of the car was not speeding, nor had he run a red light.

LaDeana Morgan was in front of the car when she saw sparks from the power line, and saw the accident in her rearview mirror.

“He crashed right behind me,” Morgan said. “I saw him go up, and I saw the sparks and shards of his car going all over.”

Erin Little also said there were sparks in the power line when the car hit the guy wire.

“There was smoke blowing out everywhere,” Little said.

Another witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said “he just turned the corner and very casually went right up. He didn’t swerve or anything. It was like he was zoned out when it happened.”

“I didn’t see any movement,” Morgan said. “But then I heard that he was moving around. He’s so lucky that he didn’t crash into the pole itself.”

The unidentified driver was taken to Good Shepherd Medical Center in unknown condition.

“At this point we need to do some more investigation,” Cook said, who added the cause of the accident is still undetermined, though he cited a possible medical condition.

Luke Hegdal can be reached at lhegdal@hermistonherald.com.