Linn County Undersheriff Paul Timm reports yesterday at 4:24 pm., deputies responded to a fatal motor vehicle crash involving two vehicles. The crash occurred at the intersection of Knox Butte and Scravel Hill Road, east of Albany.
The driver of the first vehicle, a 2016 Toyota Tundra, was identified as Steven Joel Stillwell, 57, of Lebanon, Oregon. The driver of the second vehicle, a 2005 Ford Mustang, was identified as James Wallace Brown, 84, and his passenger, who also was his wife, Patsy Ruth Brown, 84, of Jefferson, Oregon.
The investigation revealed that Stillwell was traveling east on Knox Butte Road approaching Scravel Hill Road. The Browns’ were stopped at the stop sign on Knox Butte heading north while a third vehicle, described as a white SUV, was stopped on Scravel Hill Road heading south. The white SUV crossed the intersection in front of Stillwell’s Tundra. He started to slow when the Browns’ Mustang tried to cross the intersection as well. The white SUV likely blocked the view of both Brown and Stillwell. The white SUV was reported to have cleared the intersection just before Stillwell hit Browns’ Mustang, striking the driver’s side. The driver of the white SUV was not identified.
James Brown died at the scene of the crash. Pasty Brown was transported by the Albany Fire Department EMS to Salem Hospital with critical injuries and Steven Stillwell was treated on scene. Deputies are continuing to investigate the crash and there was no indication that drugs or alcohol were involved.
Linn County Deputies were assisted by members of the Albany Fire Department, Linn County Road Department, the Multi-Agency Investigation Team, Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office and AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home.