Off-duty deputy injured, daughter killed in Ephrata crash

A Grant County corrections deputy was seriously injured and his young daughter killed Wednesday in a traffic crash caused by a suspected DUI driver who allegedly ran a stop sign.

Residents on Nob Hill Drive northeast of Ephrata called police around 5:45 p.m. to report a possible vehicle prowling in progress, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s office news release. Three people fled in a 1998 Dodge Durango at high speed before police arrived. The Durango then drove on D Street Northeast and ran the stop sign at Division Avenue East, the news release said.

The Durango hit a Chevy pickup driven by off-duty deputy Justin Grubb and pushed it into the garage of a nearby home. All the occupants were trapped inside the truck and had to be extricated. The Durango rolled on its side and hit a power pole.

Grubb, 33, was seriously injured and his girlfriend, 35-year-old Elizabeth Mills, was critically injured and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane by LifeFlight. Eight-year-old Audrey Grubb died at Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata.

The driver of the Durango, 36-year-old Neil McLeod, is now facing charges of driving under the influence, vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.

McLeod’s passengers, 26-year-old Jaucina Skotland and 24-year-old Sarah Gibson, were also injured.