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A Dufur-area man was cited Friday by Oregon State Police (OSP) following a commercial truck crash at the base of Auction Yard Hill in The Dalles that damaged 140 feet of guardrail and totaled the truck and trailer.
According to OSP Trooper Mark Jubitz, Friday afternoon at approximately 2:00 p.m. a 1996 Kenworth truck pulling a 53-foot semi-trailer loaded with 35,000 lbs of mixed farm products was northbound on Highway 197 approaching the intersection with Highway 30 on the east end of The Dalles. According to the truck’s driver, 77-year-old Alfred Stelzer of Dufur, the truck’s brakes failed to work and as he tried to control the truck and trailer, narrowly missing a parked vehicle on the shoulder and flipped onto its side. The truck and trailer slid through the intersection hitting several street signs, a lamp post and damaged 140 feet of guardrail in a wide gravel area on the west side of the highway.
Stelzer refused medical treatment. He was cited by Jubitz for Operating a Commercial Motor Vehicle Outside of Classification. The vehicles are registered to Covenant Ranch LLC out of Topeka, Kansas.
