Deputies investigating damage to roadside memorial
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (17NOV2018) -- Grant County sheriff's deputies are investigating a report of damage caused to a roadside memorial which marks the site of a 2016 collision which claimed the life of a Moses Lake man.
A citizen on Friday witnessed a front-end loader drive down a canal road to a roadside memorial site near Roads 5-Northeast and L-Northeast. The witness stated they saw the loader bucket maneuver, strike and uproot the memorial cross, which is made of tubular steel and sunk into concrete. The loader then continued into the city of Moses Lake where Moses Lake police contacted the loader’s operator on Ivy Street. The operator was interviewed by deputies but not arrested.
The roadside memorial marks the site of an August 21, 2016 collision where Moses Lake resident Clayton Clark, then 18-years-old, suffered critical injuries after losing control of his car and landing upside down in an irrigation canal. Clark died two days later at Providence-Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Clark’s passenger, Jesus Cornejo of Moses Lake, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Four Moses Lake police officers jumped into the canal to rescue Clark and Cornejo.
The memorial site has been the target of prior incidents of vandalism. Deputies continue to investigate.
###
Address/Location
Grant County Sheriff's Office
35 C St NW
Ephrata, WA 98823
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 509-754-2011