Fatal Crash - Highway 20 - Harney County - 10/23/25

Harney County, Ore. (Oct. 23, 2025)- On Monday, October 20, 2025, at 4:30 p.m., Oregon State Police responded to at two-vehicle crash on Highway 20, near milepost 144, in Harney County.

The preliminary investigation indicated a Chevrolet Tahoe, operated by James Joseph Hammeke (91) of Burns, entered the highway from Rattlesnake Road and was struck by a westbound Freightliner commercial motor vehicle and trailer, operated by Jaswinder Singh Sidhu (45) of Oregon City. The Freightliner struck the driver side door and front fender of the Chevrolet causing significant damage.

The operator of the Chevrolet (Hammeke) was declared deceased after being transported to an area hospital.

The operator of the Freightliner (Sidhu) was reportedly uninjured.

The highway was impacted for approximately four hours during the on-scene investigation.

OSP was assisted by the Burns Fire Department and ODOT.

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About the Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) 
The Oregon State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) is a specialized unit responsible for investigating fatal and critical injury collisions on Oregon’s highways. The team provides expertise in the documentation, investigation, and analysis of complex motor vehicle crashes and crime scenes. They receive specialized training in the use of advanced measuring techniques and small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for on-scene investigations. The CRU team includes ACTAR accredited collision reconstructionists and technical collision investigators deployed across the state.