UPDATE - Driver dies in accident on I-84
A 20-year-old Meridian woman died in a rear-end collision on I-84 at Exit 99 Tuesday at about noon. The accident occurred within minutes after authorities had closed the interstate at that point due to an unrelated incident at milepost 97.
Authorities had stopped a semi at milepost 97 Tuesday morning just before noon, and a routine check of the driver revealed an outstanding warrant for him by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. A subsequent search of the vehicle discovered a hand grenade in the vehicle. Authorities promptly closed the interstate westbound at milepost 99 and eastbound at exit 95.
Megan N. Bartley was driving her 1998 Nissan Altima westbound on Interstate 84 about four miles east of Mountain Home when she stopped for the roadblock that had been set up only minutes earlier. Conner B. Moody, 17, of Kimberly, was also westbound, driving a 2001 Hyundai, when he hit Bartley's vehicle from behind.
Bartley died at the scene from injuries sustained in the crash.
Moody was transported by ambulance to Elmore County Medical Center where he was treated and released.
The driver of the semi that was stopped between milepost 96 and 97, Ibragim Usurov, 24, of Vancouver, Wash., was booked into the Elmore County Jail.
A hazardous material team from Boise was called to the spot where the truck was stopped, as was an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Mountain Home AFB, for further investigation of the truck's contents. The base EOD team later determined the grenade was an inert practice device that could not explode.
Traffic was rerouted for about two hours through Mountain Home between Exit 95 and Exit 99 during the combined set of incidents. The rerouting caused significant traffic jams and delays through town.
ISP troopers are continuing to investigate the incidents with possible charges pending.