A California man is dead after walking into traffic following a freeway crash on Interstate Five on Friday morning.
A release from the Oregon State Police at about 6:10 a.m. troopers and emergency personnel responded to a Toyota Prius which was stopped for unknown reasons in the northbound lane of Interstate Five near milepost 112. The report said that when a trooper and the emergency personnel arrived, the operator of the vehicle, Balras Singh Dhillon, age 35 of Lincoln, California drove away northbound.
Dhillon continued on the freeway for about a mile before crashing into the northbound center median guardrail and coming to rest on the outside shoulder of the freeway. The report said that after the crash, the man exited his vehicle and for unknown reasons, walked across the northbound lanes of traffic and down the center median. He continued walking toward the southbound lanes of the freeway and walked into the southbound side of a vehicle operated by a Roseburg woman. Dhillon was then hit by multiple other vehicles in both southbound lanes and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The southbound lanes of the freeway were closed for over three hours during the investigation. Crews with the Oregon Department of Transportation set up a detour for southbound traffic. However, a number of southbound motorists already in the area had to wait in traffic until the roadway was reopened at around 9:45 a.m.
OSP troopers are continuing to investigate the accident. Anyone who believes they may have been involved or witnessed the accident is asked to call investigators at 800-442-2068.