Man killed in I-5 accident; tow-truck driver arrested

A tow-truck driver was arrested for vehicular homicide yesterday after his truck rolled over on Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, killing a passenger who was learning the towing business, police said.

Raymond Dennis Hill, 41, of Seattle was driving his Lang Towing truck south on the freeway, just north of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, about 10 a.m. when the truck crashed into a concrete guardrail, slid along the rail, then flipped, State Patrol spokeswoman Monica Hunter said.

His passenger, Dennis Flynn O'Leary, 47, of Seattle, was pronounced dead at Harborview Medical Center, a spokeswoman said. Hill was treated for back pain and booked into King County Jail.

A drug-sniffing dog found evidence of drugs in the truck, Hunter said. She would not elaborate.

O'Leary, who was originally from Michigan, was a longtime friend of workers at Lang Towing in South Seattle and had recently been hired to drive a truck after being laid off at Jet City Road Service, said Fred Powell, who has owned Lang Towing since 1945.

Hill has driven for Lang Towing off and on for several years, Powell said.

According to court records, Hill has a long record of driving violations and was convicted of drunken driving in 1992. He was cited in February in Renton for possession of drug paraphernalia and has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge, records show.

"We were never aware of any of that," said Powell, who says he checks only that his drivers have valid licenses.

"We never had any problem with him. He showed no signs (of drug use)."

Powell said his company has not been involved in a serious accident for at least five years.

The accident investigation yesterday snarled traffic downtown for several hours.

Ian Ith can be reached at 206-464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com.