Charges pending against motorists in fatal crashes

SANDPOINT — Criminal charges are pending against two people involved in separate highway crashes that killed two people.

The cases against Zachary Henager and Brianna Lucille Knapp remain sealed until they make initial appearances in Bonner County Magistrate Court. As a result, it’s unclear if the charges stem from the deadly collisions.

Henager, 24, was involved in a pileup on U.S. Highway 95 on Jan. 21 that claimed the life of an Oregon truck driver.

Idaho State Police said Henager was driving south in Cocolalla when he lost control of the Mazda coupe he was driving, crossed into the northbound lane and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer.

The northbound semi went out of control and crashed into a southbound semi driven by James Mady, a 49-year-old from Creswell, Ore. Mady was fatally injured in the collision, state police said.

Henager and the driver of the northbound semi, Richard Walston, 58, of Colville, Wash., were seriously injured in the crashes.

The crashes sparked a third collision between two other tractor-trailers, but neither of those drivers were injured, state police said.

No criminal charges are pending against any of the surviving motorists involved in the tangle of crashes, according to the Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository.

Knapp, 28, was allegedly involved in a collision with a fallen motorcyclist on Highway 200 on July 25 near Clark Fork.

State police said Kurt Henson was riding westbound on a Harley-Davidson when he struck an abrupt lane edge in a construction zone and crashed. Moments later, a westbound Knapp crashed into Henson and his motorcycle, state police said.

Henson, a 47-year-old Post Falls resident, was killed and a passenger on the bike, Kimberly Lenox, 43, also of Post Falls, was injured. Henson was a Spokane Police Department motorcycle officer who was off duty at the time of the crash.

Knapp was charged with leaving the scene of a injury or fatality crash, a felony. She was also cited for driving with a suspended license and without insurance.

The felony offense was later dismissed without prejudice because the investigation into the collision still ongoing after the charge was filed. The nature of the dismissal enabled the state to re-file a charge once the investigation was completed.

Knapp’s supporters have adamantly insisted that she did not crash into anything on the night in question.