Junction City driver jailed after crash kills 2, seriously injures third

BROWNSVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A 21-year-old Junction City man was jailed on DUII and criminally negligent homicide charges after a crash early Saturday morning killed two people and seriously injured a third, Oregon State Police said.

Troopers and medics responded around 12:15 a.m. Saturday to the reported two-vehicle crash on state Highway 228 east of Brownsville in Linn County, troopers said.

An initial investigation found that Austyn Hillsman was driving a Ford F-250 pickup heading east on the highway when it crossed into the oncoming lane and struck a Honda Pilot driven by Caleb Simonis, 19, of Sweet Home, OSP reported.

Simonis sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene, troopers said. There were two passengers in the SUV. A 16-year-old girl who was flown by Life Flight to a hospital, where she died, and a 15-year-old girlwho was taken by ambulance to the hospital with serious injuries.

Hillsman, who OSP said did not sustain serious injuries, was booked into the Linn County Jail on two counts of criminally negligent homicide and charges of DUII and reckless driving.