UPDATE: Driver charged with DUI in Washougal River Road wreck

Road closed at Blair Road

By Ray Legendre
Columbian staff writer

Originally published April 27, 2012 at 5:34 p.m., updated April 27, 2012 at 8:12 p.m.

A 65-year-old Washougal man was charged with DUI Friday evening after a single-vehicle wreck on Washougal River Road that left hundreds without power, authorities said.

Harlee Horrell was traveling nortbound in a 1982 Ford F-250 truck around 5:15 p.m. when he left the road and struck a telephone pole near the 800 block of Washougal River Road, said Sgt. Bill Roberts with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. The wreck severed a utility pole and knocked down power lines across both lanes.

Police detoured traffic for more than two hours while cleanup occurred. Clark Public Utilities’ web site reported 371 homes were without power due to the wreck.

Horrell, who was the truck’s lone occupant, escaped the wreck uninjured. Witnesses told police the driver appeared intoxicated, Roberts said.

Horrell took a Breathalyzer test, but Roberts did not immediately know what his blood alcohol content was.

Traffic detoured at Blair Road on the west and Vernon Road on the east until around 8 p.m., officials said.