I-5 race led to fatal crash in Thurston County, court records allege
Investigators suspect a high-speed race on Interstate 5 led to a fatal car wreck near Lacey on Friday, court records show.
Oscar Alferedo Herrera Rodriguez, 21, is being held in the Thurston County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to jail records. He has been accused of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, both in a reckless manner, those records show.
Judge Mary Sue Wilson found probable cause for the alleged crimes and set the bail amount during Herrera Rodriguez’s preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court Monday. The hearing occurred four days after Steven L. Hargis, a 50-year-old man from Forest Grove, Oregon, died at the scene of the two-vehicle collision. The incident occurred at milepost 110 just before midnight. Herrera-Rodriguez hit Hargis’ vehicle while the 21-year-old was racing another vehicle, court records allege.
In addition to setting bail, Wilson barred Herrera Rodriguez from driving while the case is pending or contacting the victim’s family.
Herrera Rodriguez has not yet been charged. Prosecutors have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file charges, or else his conditions of release will expire. His arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Herrera Rodriguez travelled southbound on Interstate 5 in lane two of three in a Ford Mustang and allegedly struck a Mazda CX-9 driven by Hargis, causing the Mazda to roll over and come to a rest in the trees on the right shoulder, according to a State Patrol memo.
A 20-year-old woman rode in the car with Hargis, and first responders transported her to Providence St. Peter Hospital to be treated for her injuries, per the memo.
Herrera Rodriguez did not suffer injuries, the memo said, nor did his two passengers: an 18-year-old Olympia man and a 15-year-old Lacey boy.
Troopers attributed the cause of the collision to “speed.” The crash blocked the road for almost eight hours, The Olympian reported.
A public defense attorney was appointed to represent Herrera Rodriguez for the Monday hearing only. As of Tuesday, it’s unclear who will represent him going forward. Herrera Rodriguez has no adult criminal history nor any other open cases, court records show.
The investigation
On Monday, prosecutors filed a probable cause statement that provides more details about the incident from the perspective of law enforcement. The following is a summary of that statement.
A trooper arrived on the scene and observed the Mazda in the woods, about 50-75 feet from the roadway. The Mazda was on its passenger side and had “heavy damage” all around as well as “obvious impact damage” to the rear of the vehicle, according to the statement.
The Ford came to a rest 150 feet away next to the Exit 109 sign and appeared to have heavy front-end damage.
Several witnesses at the scene allegedly told troopers that the Ford was traveling at high speed with its lights blacked out.
A trooper confirmed Herrera Rodriguez drove the Ford and spoke to him. He allegedly said he was traveling back home from Seattle with some friends and his headlights were broken. When asked how fast he thought he was going, he allegedly said 69 miles per hour.
The trooper conducted a field sobriety test and “did not observe any signs of impairment,” per the statement.
A dark blue Honda Civic was also at the scene. The driver of that vehicle confirmed he was driving back from Seattle and following Herrera Rodriguez.
Additional witnesses allegedly told the trooper that the Ford traveled at 90–100 miles per hour and was followed by a dark blue car at a similar speed.
Another witness called in hours later to report they had dash camera footage of the vehicles racing prior to the collision, according to the statement.
The Ford and another vehicle passed the witness at a high rate of speed near milepost 113, the witness allegedly told a detective. The witness observed the collision at milepost 110 shortly afterward.
The woman who rode in the car with Hargis suffered a laceration to her liver as well as bruising to her lung, per the statement.
The State Patrol did a records check, which showed that Herrera Rodriguez “is the regular driver of the Mustang,” and that he has been stopped multiple times by troopers in recent months, the statement said.
“He was contacted in the Mustang by WSP three times since September 2025, specifically, traffic stops on September 17, 2025, and February 25, 2026,” the statement said. “In the February traffic stop he was issued an infraction, and it was labelled as an aggressive driving stop. He was the running vehicle in a collision on April 13, 2026, and the vehicle was called out by a passerby as aggressive on May 17, 2026.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 2:29 PM.
