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SALEM, Oregon – The driver of a semi-truck involved in one of Oregon’s deadliest highway crashes that left seven people dead and injured four others on Interstate 5 is being charged for allegedly driving under the influence of intoxicants, according to Oregon State Police.
Lincoln Smith, 52, of North Highlands, California, was arraigned on Friday at the Marion County Court Annex for charges including manslaughter, driving under the influence, reckless driving and assault. He was being held without bail in Marion County Jail.
Smith, who was driving in the northbound lanes between Salem and Albany at about 2 p.m. local time Thursday, crashed into a van killing seven people and injuring four others. All victims were passengers in the van.
Six people died at the scene and one victim was later pronounced dead at a hospital, Oregon State Police said in a news release. Four others were hospitalized with various injuries.
PCUN, the state’s largest Latino farmworkers union, and Mexican officials said the 11 people in the van were all farmworkers.
The crash is one of the deadliest in Oregon in recent years.
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How police say the crash happened
Police said Smith’s 18-wheeler left the northbound lane of Interstate 5 and hit a Ford Econoline van with 11 people inside. The impact pushed the van into the trailer of another 18-wheeler. The driver of the other truck was not injured.
A district attorney said witnesses reported the truck had been weaving on and off the road and hit the van without applying the brakes. The white van at the scene was crushed. Straw sun hats and shovels could be seen among the wreckage.
Six people who were in the van were declared dead at the scene. Another person was taken from the scene in a helicopter and died while they were being taken to a hospital. Police said the other four people in the van suffered various injuries and were transported by ambulance to hospitals.
The victims in the crash are not being named, police said, until their families have been notified.
The husband of one of the dead told the judge through an interpreter that their 1-year-old son asked for his mother on Friday.
“My future is destroyed,” he said.
Driver charged for allegedly driving under the influence
Smith was transported from the scene for medical treatment. Police said he was then arrested and taken to Marion County Jail.
The charging document alleges he was under the influence of a controlled substance and an inhalant. At his Friday arraignment, a district attorney said he refused a field sobriety test and was unable to focus and answer basic questions.
The district attorney said Smith admitted to taking “speed” on Wednesday and was in possession of methamphetamine and inhalants.
Smith had been arrested at least 17 times in California and has nine previous convictions ranging from burglary to providing false information, deputy district attorney David Wilson said.
His next scheduled court appearance is May 30. The judge did not set bail.
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Victims identified as farmworkers, union says
The union, the Woodburn-based PCUN, said in a statement late Friday that the 11 people in the vehicle were farmworkers and it is in touch with some of the families to understand what kind of support they need. PCUN said it will also help identify any needs the community can help with.
“PCUN, and our members, would like to send our sincere condolences to the families and the workers impacted by this tragedy,” executive director Reyna Lopez said in a statement. “At this time, families are asking for safer roads for workers commuting after a hard day’s work.”
The Mexican Consulate in Portland also said the victims were farmworkers in a statement in Spanish posted on Facebook and Twitter.
“According to information provided by the office of the Oregon State Police, seven dead were reported in the … accident and four people injured, all of them apparently agricultural workers of Mexican nationality,” the statement said.
Semi-truck drivers must adhere to lower blood alcohol limits
The threshold for criminal charges for someone driving a commercial vehicle is lower than for a passenger vehicle, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.
Driving a commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .04 is a federal violation. In Oregon, the legal limit for drivers of standard vehicles is below .08.
According to Oregon Department of Transportation data, 159 people have died in traffic crashes in Oregon so far this year. In 2022, 600 people died in crashes in Oregon.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
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