A trial is underway for a California truck driver accused of causing a fatal crash at the bottom of the Lewiston Hill last year.
33-year-old Pompeyo Salazar-Cabrera faces a felony charge of vehicular manslaughter for the March 2018 accident that killed 19-year-old Hayden Garrett of Clarkston.
Court records show Salazar-Cabrera was driving a Swift-owned 2015 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer down Lewiston Grade just after 6 AM when several witnesses say the truck was speeding down the hill, with smoke billowing from the brakes. The driver did not use any of the runaway truck ramps on the hill and ran a stop sign at the intersection with State Highway 128, where he hit a 1999 Toyota Camry driven by Garrett.
The impact sent Garrett’s car into the parking lot of the Hillary Motel, and Garrett died a short time later.
The trial began Tuesday in Nez Perce County 2nd District Court and was scheduled to continue Wednesday. (Lewiston Tribune)
