Two injured Oroville men spend night in orchard

OROVILLE – Two Oroville men were involved in a rollover accident on Eastlake Rd. early Sunday morning and the sheriff’s department suspects the cause was excessive speed – attempting a 25 mph corner at more than 70 mph.

Okanogan County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a one vehicle rollover accident near 48 Eastlake Rd. east of Oroville on Sunday morning. It appeared the vehicle accident had occurred Saturday night, sometime after midnight, according to Sheriff Frank Rodgers.

The registered owner of the vehicle, Timothy M. Porter, 21, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and Austin A. Nigg, 22, was treated and released from North Valley Hospital in Tonasket. Neither subject were wearing seatbelts and both were ejected from the 2003 Ford Escort ZX2, the sheriff said.

“The two subjects were involved in an incident earlier in the evening at the Eagles in Oroville and were seen driving away from the scene at around 12:30 a.m.,” said Sheriff Rogers. “It is believed that the subjects crashed some time around 1 a.m. in morning but it was not discovered and reported to the sheriff’s office until 7:20 a.m.”

Both subjects laid out in the orchard until discovered Sunday morning, according to the sheriff.

“So far in the investigation it appears that the vehicle was traveling northbound on the Eastlake Road, a 35 mph speed zone. As the vehicle came up to a suggested 25 mph curve, the driver lost control, left the roadway on the west side and struck several orchard trees and rolled. Both occupants of the vehicle were ejected from the vehicle.

“The initial investigation at this time calculates the speed of the vehicle at 70 plus miles an hour as it entered the 25 mile-an-hour corner. It also appears that alcohol may have been a factor in the accident.”

The investigation is still ongoing and the sheriff’s department has not yet been able to determine who was driving the car at the time of the collision. The Washington State Patrol Criminal Investigation Division from Moses Lake is going to bring Total Station to the scene on Wednesday to assist in measuring, Roger said.