Man killed in rollover crash

By Terry Murry on Thursday, June 3rd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – Kurt Timothy Hitchen, 48, of Pendleton died in a crash that shut down eastbound lanes of Interstate 84 west of Pendleton yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.

Oregon State Police reports Hitchen was driving a pickup pulling a travel trailer when it rolled at milepost 206. His passenger, Melissa Hagen, 38, of Pendleton was transported to St. Anthony Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Lt. Karl Farber reports that Hitchen’s trailer began to sway and both the pickup and travel trailer rolled over. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Eastbound traffic was delayed as long as two hours at milepost 193 because of the traffic backed up behind the crash. Highway crews coordinated routing traffic through a single lane at the site. The report of the crash was received by OSP at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The interstate completely reopened at about 7:25 p.m.

OSP was assisted at the scene by Pendleton Fire & Ambulance, the Echo Fire Department, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Primary photo by Clint Troyer

Additional photo by Oregon State Police