MILTON-FREEWATER- An Idaho woman remains in a Seattle hospital in critical condition after being hit by a car on Highway 11 Sunday evening near Milton-Freewater.
According to Oregon State Police reports, Jo Ellenwood Quiroz, 36, and her boyfriend, Victor Parsons Jr., 40, both of Lapwai, Idaho, were walking along the southbound shoulder of Highway 11 near milepost 26 at around 5:40 p.m. when the two got into an argument. Both pedestrians were intoxicated, according to OSP.
Parsons told police Quiroz said she wanted to walk northbound, and she was seen by a witness walking back and forth across the northbound traffic.
Charles Tyson Ratkie, 16, of Milton-Freewater, was traveling at about 57 mph in the northbound lane in a 1999 Toyota Avalon when he saw Quiroz in the roadway and tried to avoid hitting her, according to crash reports. However, the vehicle struck Quiroz on the front passenger side of the car.
Quiroz was transported by ambulance to St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, and then later taken by Life-Flight to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She was listed in critical, but stable, condition as of this morning.
Ratkie and his passengers, Charleen Renee Ratkie, 52, and Waldon Charles Ratkie, 71, were not injured. Charles Ratkie was not cited by OSP in the crash. Parsons also was uninjured.
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