Fatal Crash – Highway 140 – Lake County - 08/10/26

LAKE COUNTY, Ore. (10 August 2026) – On Saturday, August 8, 2026, at approximately 10:39 p.m., Oregon State Police responded to a single-vehicle fatal crash on Highway 140 near milepost 56 in Lake County.

The preliminary investigation indicated a gray Dodge Challenger, operated by Juan Luis Perez Garcia (23) of Tule Lake, California, was traveling eastbound on Highway 140 in a remote area of Lake County when it left the roadway for an unknown reason and rolled several times down an embankment.

The operator (Perez Garcia) was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A passenger in the Dodge, Cristo Jesus Herrera (20) of Tule Lake, California, was transported by air ambulance to an area hospital with serious injuries.

The highway was not impacted during the on-scene investigation.

OSP was assisted by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Lake County Search and Rescue, Lake County EMS, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.  

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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 documenting, investigating, and analyzing complex motor vehicle crashes and crime scenes. They receive specialized training in using 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.