This article was originally published by Jacob Scholl in the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho State Police arrest one after a Nampa man was killed in a head-on car crash in Canyon County.
Just after 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Idaho State Police troopers were called to the scene of a crash on State Highway 19 near the intersection of Simplot Boulevard and Notus Road in Greenleaf, according to a news release from ISP.
Pedro J. Avalos, 30 of Caldwell, was arrested Wednesday on charges of vehicular manslaughter and injury to a child.
After investigating, troopers found that an Oregon man was driving a Toyota Camry in the westbound lanes of the highway when he crossed the center line and hit a Ford Ranger pickup truck headed east.
The driver of the pickup — identified by police as 35-year-old Nampa man Adam Hawthorne — was taken to a Nampa hospital via ambulance. He was later pronounced dead. The Oregon man was taken to a hospital in Caldwell via ambulance, though his condition was not included in the ISP news release.
It was not immediately clear what caused the driver to drift into the oncoming lanes of traffic. The crash was still under investigation as of Wednesday morning.
Following the crash, both eastbound lanes and the left lane of westbound Highway 19 were closed for roughly four hours while the scene was documented and cleared. State police were assisted by Canyon County Sheriff’s Office deputies, according to the news release.
