Truck crash leaves highway blocked by crushed cars

CONNELL -- State Highway 17 reopened about 3:15 p.m. today, Jan. 2, after crews finished cleaning up debris from a tractor-trailer crash that left crushed cars on the roadway.

According to the Washington State Patrol, the crash occurred about 8:50 a.m. at Milepost 9, nine miles south of the city.

Bruce H. Whiteaker, 60, of Wenatchee, was southbound on the highway when he lost control of his 2011 Mack truck towing a trailer carrying crushed cars, the patrol said. Whiteaker crossed the centerline and struck the Jersey barrier in the northbound lane, spilling the crushed cars.

Whiteaker was trans...