Man who died after crashing into Centralia gas station has been identified

The man who died in a car crash Friday morning in Centralia has been identified by the Lewis County Coroner.

Jeffery Lantrip, 54, of Centralia was identified by Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod. Lantrip’s cause of death has yet to be announced.

About 6:30 a.m. Friday, witnesses saw Lantrip erratically drive his car in the wrong direction on the southbound Interstate 5 exit 82 distributor lanes, which run alongside the freeway and connect to city streets. He exited the distributor lanes at a high speed, he crossed four lanes of traffic on Harrison Avenue and crashed into a Chevron gas station’s fuel pump.

When police arrived, Lantrip was found in his vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

At the time, Centralia Police Sgt. Dave Clary said it was a good thing no one else was near the scene because “this had the potential to be a very bad situation.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 11:34 AM.