Speed, drugs factor into fatal wreck

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, May 28, 2002

Herald staff

SNOHOMISH — Speed, unsafe equipment and drugs all were factors in a traffic crash that killed a milk deliveryman May 3, according to the Snohomish County sheriff’s Collision Investigation Unit.

Rick Eaton, 47, of Snohomish was driving a Smith Brothers Dairy route when he lost control of his van in the 21000 block of Echo Lake Road. The truck ran off the road and rolled over, landing on top of him.

Collision unit investigators completed their probe and determined that Eaton was driving too fast, his brakes were faulty and he was under the influence of methamphetamine, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said Tuesday.

Eaton died at the scene.

He began the Monroe route, which included parts of Snohomish, in 1999.