Deschutes County, OR — December 16, 2025, William Sargent was killed in a truck accident at about 5:30 p.m. on U.S. Route 97/Bend Parkway.

Authorities said a southbound Chrysler Pacifica collided with a Range Rover and a Chevrolet Tahoe near mile marker 127 before crashing head-on with a semi-truck.

Chrysler driver William Sargent, 79, of Bend died at the scene of the crash.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Deschutes County crash at this time.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When a crash involves an SUV hitting multiple vehicles before slamming into a semi-truck head-on, the public is left wondering what really led to such a catastrophic chain of events. At this point, officials say the Chrysler Pacifica collided with two other vehicles before striking the semi, but that only raises more questions than it answers.

The most obvious unanswered question is why the Chrysler veered into the path of the truck in the first place. Was the driver attempting to pass someone? Did he lose control? Did another vehicle cut him off or force him to swerve? Right now, there’s no public information that explains how or why the Pacifica ended up on the wrong side of the road.

The fact that the semi-truck was involved in a head-on collision doesn’t automatically mean the truck driver did anything wrong. But it also doesn’t rule it out. Depending on whether the truck was moving or stopped, different questions arise. Was the truck in its proper lane? Could the driver have taken evasive action? Did visibility or speed play a role?

The only way to answer those questions is by investigating. That includes pulling engine control module data from the truck (sometimes called the “black box”) to understand how fast it was going, whether it braked and how the driver responded in the moments leading up to the crash. If the truck had forward-facing cameras or in-cab monitoring, those could also shed light on the driver's behavior and the sequence of events.

Of course, this crash might turn out to have nothing to do with the truck or its driver. But I’ve worked on plenty of cases where initial reports made it sound like one party was clearly at fault, only for deeper investigation to reveal a more complex picture. Sometimes, the driver of a commercial vehicle is speeding, distracted or driving a truck that shouldn’t have been on the road at all. Sometimes, it’s the passenger vehicle that triggers the incident. And sometimes both parties make mistakes that collide in the worst possible way.

That’s why it’s important to hold off on assigning blame until all the evidence is in. Without black box data, phone records and dash cam footage, any conclusion is just guesswork.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s not yet clear why the Chrysler Pacifica veered into the path of the semi-truck.
• Authorities have not said whether the truck was in motion, stopped or attempted to avoid the crash.
• Critical evidence — like black box data, dash cam footage or phone records — could help determine what really happened.
• Head-on crashes often involve multiple factors; it’s a mistake to assume one side is clearly at fault without a full investigation.
• Getting to the truth requires gathering all available evidence, not relying on early impressions.