A 55-year-old Kennewick man is dead after a deadly crash about six miles from Warden on Monday.

Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones says James Boles was riding his 1999 Harley on Road U Southeast, about six miles north of Warden around 11:20AM, when he came up rapidly on a slow moving semi loaded with potatoes.  As Boles tried to avoid, he slid the bike on it's side, striking the left rear wheel of the semi driven by 38-year-old Oscar Cisneros Leal.

That impact spun Boles into the opposite lane of travel where he and the bike were struck by a 2007 Freightliner semi driven by 55-year-old Charles Keinholz of Moses Lake. His bike was destroyed and he died at the scene.

No citations were issued for either truck driver. Apparently Cisneros did not sense, feel or see the bike hit his rear wheel, he was not aware of the crash until Deputies flagged him down further along the road. He returned to the scene and cooperated as part of the investigation.

Sheriff Jones says excessive speed by Boles was the likely cause of the incident, then the fatal crash. Boles was wearing a helmet, but given the nature of the crash, it is not likely it would have prevented his death after being hit by the semi.

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