The 2014 Chevrolet Camaro sits about 10 feet below Leonard Road at Burchett Road on Oct. 18, 2016. / Photo Lewis County Sheriff’s Office case file
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A $1.2 million claim has been filed against Lewis County for wrongful death in the case of a 70-year-old Vietnam veteran whose car wasn’t discovered for nearly 90 minutes after he traveled down an embankment where a guard rail was missing and struck a tree in the Onalaska area.
The Chevrolet Camaro with its flashers on was spotted by a pair of Lewis County Public Works employees driving by, more than 40 feet off the west end of Burchett Road and down more than 10 feet, only because the county utility truck happened to sit high enough to see it, according to authorities.
Morris L. Johanson was conscious when responders arrived and told them he had been on his way to a doctor’s appointment at the VA hospital. Law enforcement noted Johanson was seat belted in and his airbags deployed and they could see his lower leg was broken and his forehead cut. He was on oxygen and had oxygen tanks on the floorboard beside him.
Morris Leland Johanson
The two county employees had broken a window so they could talk with him.
The two-time Purple Heart recipient who lived less than five miles away told the arriving deputy he’d run the stop sign for Leonard Road at 6:30 a.m., that he hadn’t realized where he was and hadn’t noticed it.
The wreck had been reported at 7:55 a.m.
Johanson stopped breathing during the move from his vehicle to the ambulance. CPR was conducted and the ambulance headed to meet an airlift helicopter, but when a second deputy responded to Onalaska High School’s football field, he found the helicopter with its engine shut off and was told Johanson was deceased.
The guard rail had not been repaired or replaced following a collision at the T-intersection about a month earlier, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the wrongful death claim.
Portland attorney Jon Zbinden wrote that Johanson endured pain and suffering until his demise from blunt force trauma – to his chest according to the coroner. Zbinden wrote that the Onalaska man was not discovered for approximately one and a half hours because his vehicle traveled down the embankment as a result of a missing guard rail.
The collision occurred the morning of Oct. 18. The claim – on behalf of Johanson’s daughter, Cherie Johanson – was received by Lewis County Risk Management on April 10. A claim was filed against the Washington State Department of Transportation as well.
Johanson had lived in Onalaska about 10 years and previously owned a long haul trucking business, according to his obituary.
Earlier this week, the risk and safety administrator for the county, Paulette Young, informed the Board of (Lewis) County Commissioners that their attorney handling the case recommended they deny the claim.
“Most likely if we deny, we’ll see a lawsuit,” Young told them.
The three member board voted unanimously to deny the claim.
The Washington State Patrol analyzed the scene and concluded the orange 2014 Camaro, with a Washington Purple Heart specialty plate had been traveling approximately 43 mph when it left the roadway.
There were no marks to suggest any braking for the stop sign and pieces of the previous guard rail were still scattered on the slope.
There had been orange traffic cones placed along Leonard Road where the guard rail previously was, according to one of the investigating troopers.
The Lewis County Coroner’s Office found Johanson died of of blunt force injuries to his chest, with two diseases contributing: arteriosclerotic cardiovascular and chronic obstructive pulmonary. He had multiple rib fractures and internal bleeding collapsed both his lungs, according to the autopsy report.
A service with full military honors was held at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland where he was laid to rest.
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