Lakewood man hospitalized after Ore. van crash
Two people died and a Lakewood man is among the injured after a van belonging to a church overturned in Oregon. (Photo: Oregon State Police)
A 22 –year-old Lakewood man remains in an Idaho hospital after he and four other passengers were hospitalized for injuries they received in an Oregon traffic accident that killed two of their colleagues.
A spokeswoman at Boise’s St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center said William Chris Rodgers of Lakewood is in stable condition, but she could release no further details on his injuries Monday afternoon.
Three other passengers in the van – Aaron Stearling Werntz, 19, Freeport, Ill.; Phillip Joel Harris, 24, of Attalla, Ala.; and Katherine Elizabeth Darlene Pischura, 18, of Geneva, Ohio – also were seriously injured in last Thursday’s rollover accident near Baker City, Ore., and remain in the Idaho hospital. Christine Sandra Aki, 18, of Golden was released from the hospital over the weekend.
Taune Nicole Winter Pepper, 23, of Deer Trail and Jushua John Pischura, also of Geneva, Ill., died from their injuries.
All the victims were participating in the Masters Commission program at New Life Worship Center in Federal Heights. The van is registered to the center, which is affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Masters Commission.
Nicole Elaine Byrd, 25, of Federal Heights was driving the2002 Ford F-350 van on an icy stretch of Interstate 84 when it slid out of control and rolled several times, ejecting 13 of the van’s 16 occupants, according to Lt. Gregg Hastings, Oregon State Police spokesman.
The van, which was traveling west on I-85, came to rest on its top on a frontage road about 50 yards away, Hastings said.
All 16 people in the van were treated for injuries at hospitals in La Grande, Ore., Baker City, Ore. and Boise. Most were treated and released.
The group was en route to Portland, Oregon for a conference to raise funds for the commission’s mentoring program.
The Masters Commission is an “intense, nine month discipleship program” founded in 1984 in Phoenix that since “has grown into a worldwide movement changing the lives of thousands. With a balance between discipleship and evangelism, the program provides functional, hands on environment where the individual can experience the power of God on a daily basis,” according to New Life Worship Center’s web site.
Hastings said the accident remains under investigation and that no additional details will be released until the investigation has been reviewed by the Baker County District Attorney’s Office.
