Man sustains potentially life-threatening injuries; garbage truck driver also injured after crash into school parking lot

The driver of a sedan sustained potentially life-threatening injuries when the driver of a garbage truck went off the road to avoid hitting the car and into the Pasadena Park Elementary School parking lot in a crash Tuesday afternoon near Spokane Valley.

Deputies responded to the crash around 2:30 p.m. on East Upriver Drive near North Bessie Road, according to a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Initial information indicated a man driving a white Ford Taurus was traveling west on Upriver Drive while trying to pass other vehicles on the shoulder, the sheriff’s office said. The driver struck the guardrail, causing the car to cut across the road into the eastbound lanes of travel.

Deputies said a man driving an eastbound garbage truck swerved trying to avoid the crash. He went off the road, over a retaining wall and into the school parking lot, striking several unoccupied parked cars.

The Ford struck a fence and came to a stop.

The driver of the Ford had potentially life-threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said. The garbage truck driver had injuries that were believed to be not life-threatening. Both were taken to the hospital.

Several unoccupied cars parked in the school’s lot were damaged. Deputies closed portions of Upriver Drive and East Wellesley Avenue. The crash is under investigation.