ONE DEAD, ONE SERIOUSLY HURT, ANOTHER ATTEMPTS TO FLEE INTO THE
WOODS

In the half-light of an autumn afternoon, this place seems eternal. A few
leaves are turning and the evergreens remain stalwart, unchanging, forever.

But the artery that cuts through this place is a constant reminder of the
fragility of life — the seemingly senseless and random violence that can strike
on Hwy. 26.

Gary Lee Berry, 71, of Welches, attempted a left turn from Woodsey Way onto
westbound Hwy. 26 in the twilight hour of Sept. 16. A witness advised the
Oregon State Police that a Pontiac Grand Am passed an eastbound vehicle at
a high rate of speed and crashed into Berry’s Ford Taurus.

Berry lost his life.

Shortly after the accident OSP Trooper Scott McLeod patrolled near milepost
41 and came upon the scene of the two-vehicle crash –— Berry’s Ford
disabled in the westbound lane and Jeffrey Jacobs, 28, of Milwaukie, was in
his Pontiac in the ditch on the north side of the highway.

McLeod checked the Pontiac and found Jacobs pinned in his vehicle. Before
the trooper was able to check on Berry, Hoodland Fire Department and an
AMR ambulance arrived on the scene and confirmed that Berry was deceased.
After medical personnel treated Jacobs and removed him from the car, Jacobs
tried to escape into the woods but was overtaken and detained by McLeod and
an AMR paramedic, according to OSP.

Jacobs was transported to Legacy Emanuel Hospital for treatment of non-life
threatening injuries.

Berry was using safety restraints and his car’s air bags deployed.
Hwy. 26 was closed until 4 a.m.

The night before this fatal accident, Mike Headrick, 44, of Welches, was
seriously injured in a single-vehicle rollover on the highway near milepost 42
in Zigzag.

Headrick, operating a 2001 Ford Expedition, was eastbound when he drove off
the right side of the highway onto the shoulder at approximately 1:50 a.m.,
according to OSP Trooper Will Brindza. The vehicle came back onto the
highway across both eastbound lanes where it rolled and came to rest on its
wheels in the left eastbound lane.

OSP reported the crash was alcohol-related.

The victim was transported by LifeFlight to Oregon Health Sciences University.
Hoodland Fire Department assisted at the scene.

Brigette Romeo, 16-year partner of Headrick, told The Mountain Times that he
was recovering and the prognosis was good.

“He’s now out of ICU,” Romeo said. “He suffered major head trauma and
there is possible vertebrae injury. Surgeons had to open his skull and relieve
pressure on the brain. But he is coherent.”

Romeo indicated that doctors said they got him to the hospital just in time.
“They told me it was a good rescue,” she said.