Head on Collision Takes a Life

Just before noon on Friday, December 5th, Officers, and Fire personnel in Grants Pass were dispatched to a reported possible head-on motor vehicle accident on the Grants Pass Parkway near the Parkway Railroad bridge.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers and medical personnel came upon a motor vehicle crash in the northbound lanes of the Parkway. First Responders assessed the patients and discovered the passenger in one of the vehicles identified as 85-year-old Williawease Clinton, was deceased at the scene. The driver of the same vehicle, identified as 87-year-old Henry Clinton, was not conscious and appeared to be in critical condition.

Fire personnel quickly extricated the driver using the “jaws of life” and AMR transported the man immediately to the Three Rivers Medical Center.

The driver of the second vehicle, who has been identified as 54-year-old Raul Orozco of Grants Pass, was conscious and talking with emergency personnel. He was transported to the hospital with minor injuries and for evaluation due to the degree of impact from the collision.

Detectives were requested as well as the Grants Pass reconstruction team. The Parkway was closed between NE F Street and SE M Street while the scene was investigated and the vehicles were removed. Oregon Department of Transportation personnel was also advised and assisted with the shutting down of the roadway and providing signage for detours.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation and further updates will follow as it becomes available. The Parkway was cleared for normal traffic at approximately 3:20 pm. Anyone with further information on the crash is asked to contact the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety at 541-450-6260.

No other information is available at this time.