Oregon State Police, with the assistance of Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office, arrested a commercial truck driver Friday night for felony hit-and-run following a serious injury pedestrian-involved crash along the eastbound lanes of Interstate 84 near the John Day Dam east of Rufus.
The driver, Viktor Akhrimovich, 42, of Auburn, later was arrested and lodged in the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility in The Dalles, Ore., for felony hit-and-run.
At approximately 9 p.m., Billy Joe Leggett, 52, of Goldendale, Wash., was a passenger in a vehicle that became disabled on the shoulder of eastbound Interstate 84 near milepost 114. Leggett reportedly got out of the vehicle to retrieve a drive line that dropped onto the highway when he was struck by a commercial truck that continued eastbound from the scene, police reported.
Leggett was seriously injured and transported by ambulance to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles.
Several minutes after arriving on scene, OSP was notified by Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office that a deputy located the commercial truck and driver near Arlington. The driver was arrested.
OSP troopers from The Dalles Area Command office were assisted at the scene by Sherman County area fire and medical responders. The investigation is continuing.