Knife River Construction Worker Dies One Week After Collision on I-5

WILSONVILLE, OR — Oregon State Police officials on Wednesday confirmed that one of the two construction workers hit on Interstate-5 earlier this month has died.

Powell Butte resident Ronald Ernest Davis, 57, died in a local hospital on June 14, police said. Davis succumbed to injuries sustained when his construction vehicle was hit on June 6 by 27-year-old Colin Michael Cook of Fairview, who was driving a box truck, police said.

Also injured in the crash was 20-year-old Antonio Manuel Bahena of Troutdale, police said. Bahena has since been released from hospital, OSP spokesman Lt. Mark Duncan told Patch in an email.

Cook, police said in a statement, remains in custody at the Marion County Correctional Facility on charges of assault, reckless driving, reckless endangering, and failure to perform the duties of a driver.

On Tuesday, June 6, Cook reportedly drove his white box truck through a construction area on northbound Interstate-5, near milepost 280, south of Wilsonville. As he passed through the area, Cook allegedly struck a construction vehicle driven by Davis and Bahena, causing both men serious injuries, police said. After the collision, Cook reportedly continued north on I-5 but was located a short time later by Oregon state troopers.

Officials also report that during the crash scene investigation, a person driving a black Jeep SUV approached the construction area, passing all other stopped vehicles by driving on the shoulder. Stopping at the scene of the crash, the driver was quickly arrested on charges of reckless driving.

Following the crash, Knife River Construction's President of Oregon Operations, Brian Gray, provided the following statement:

This is a terrible situation that did not have to happen.

Our team members were working in the closed lane, on the other side of traffic barrels when their vehicle was hit.

We ask two things: Please keep our injured team members and their families in your thoughts, and please pay extra attention and slow down in work zones so something like this never happens again.

Photo Courtesy: Oregon State Police