TOLEDO – A teenager from Florence was killed and another one critically injured Friday, Oct. 11 when their truck overturned while trying to turn from U.S. Highway 20 into a side road just east of Toledo, Oregon State Police said Monday.
Benito K. Esquivel Whitney of Florence died when the eastbound truck driven by Jacob J. Bartlett, 18, of Florence tried to turn from Highway 20 into Arcadia Drive, rolled several times and came to rest on its roof about 10:45 a.m. Friday, state police said. Police said the cause of the crash is under investigation “with speed being considered a primary factor.”
Whitney was a passenger in the truck. Bartlett was injured critically and taken by Life Flight to the hospital in Corvallis.
It is the ninth traffic fatality on Highway 20 so far this year between Newport and Philomath, more than three times the average the past five years.