Driver caught going 122 mph on Water Follies weekend. Also, DUI arrests and crashes

The Columbia River wasn’t the only place there were high speeds in the Tri-Cities this weekend.

The Washington State Patrol pulled over several speeders, Trooper Chris Thorson said on Twitter.

One was caught twice. The first time the driver was 28 mph over the limit and then 15 minutes later, the driver was going 25 mph over the limit.

Another driver was clocked going 122 mph on Interstate 82 near the Locust Grove Road exit on Saturday.

It will take a few more days before the WSP has final figures on the number of speeders, but Thorson estimated troopers issued well over 100 tickets for the weekend.

With thousands of people coming to the Tri-Cities for Water Follies events in Pasco and Kennewick and Art in the Park in Richland, the agency brought in five additional troopers to help patrol the state highways.

They were looking for speeders, drunk drivers and aggressive and distracted drivers, said the state patrol.

While the return of the event last year after the COVID shutdown resulted in more crashes, the number dropped to 22 this year from 32 in 2021.

Of the crashes this weekend, six involved drunk drivers.

In all, they arrested 13 drivers for DUI. That’s up from eight the year before.

Of the crashes, only one ended up with someone going to the hospital.

Troyce Cravens, 68, of Yakima, was driving east just before 6 p.m. Friday on Interstate 182 when he lost control of his motorcycle on the exit to Queensgate Drive in Richland.

The bike went off of the road into a ditch. Cravens was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

Investigators said he was driving too fast for the conditions and cited with second-degree negligent driving.

At Columbia Park

While the roadways were busy, the action at Columbia Park stayed on the water, according to Kennewick police.

The only arrest in the park during the event was a 57-year-old transient, said Lt. Ryan Kelly. He was caught with stolen Goldfish crackers after he prowled through some campsites.

The weekend’s scorching heat sent some people at the event to the hospital, said Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael.

They treated 19 racegoers for primarily heat-related concerns and took two of them to the hospital to be checked.

Between Water Follies and normal calls, the department was busy on Friday but it slowed on Saturday. And he said Sunday was back to an average number of calls.

This story was originally published August 1, 2022 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Driver caught going 122 mph on Water Follies weekend. Also, DUI arrests and crashes."