November 22, 2021 4:00 a.m.

A Washington man was jailed following a wrong way head-on wreck on Interstate 5 on Friday night.

A report from Oregon State Police said at around 8:00 p.m. numerous callers said a van was headed southbound on the freeway in the north lane of travel about two miles north of the Anlauf Lorane exit. Six miles to the south, near the Scotts Valley, Elkhead exit, the vehicle narrowly missed striking an unmarked OSP patrol pickup occupied by 3 troopers.

The report said the van then hit a sedan head-on. Both drivers were extricated from their vehicles by fire and medical personnel. The driver of the sedan, a 66-year old female from Ashland, was transported to CHI Mercy Medical Center for serious life-threatening injuries and was later flown by an air medical unit to Legacy Emmanuel Medical Center in Portland. Her condition was not available.

The driver of the van was taken to Mercy for non-life-threatening injuries. A search warrant was obtained and executed on the van’s driver, a 27-year old man. He was treated and released from Mercy, and then was taken into custody. Mario Alvarez-Villa was charged with third-degree assault, DUII, reckless driving and three-counts of recklessly endangering another person. Bail was set at $85,000.