AGNEW – A man who died in a head-on crash between two pickup trucks on U.S. Highway 101 Monday afternoon had cocaine in his pocket when he died, said the State Patrol officer investigating the crash.
And during August, he was pulled over by Western Washington law enforcement officers four times – twice on the same day and by two different agencies and two counties apart, a search of court records revealed.
Jordan Reed Hintz, 45, of Sequim, died after crossing the centerline of the highway about 150 yards east of Sherbourne Road and colliding with a Ford F-250 pickup.
The driver of the Ford, John Edward Gilman Jr., 40, of Sequim, who was driving eastbound, suffered minor injuries, said State Patrol Trooper Rick Ward.
Gilman and a passenger in another car that came upon the crash cut Hintz’s seat belt to remove him from the 1987 Chevrolet S-10 pickup.
Hintz was removed from the truck before it caught fire, Ward said.
Hintz was dead by the time emergency personnel arrived.
Highway 101 was closed in both directions for about an hour, then was opened to eastbound traffic.
Westbound traffic was blocked at Carlsborg Road until about 6:45 p.m.
Ward said that when he went through Hintz’s pockets to find identification, he found three small plastic bags of what was later found to be cocaine.
Less than two weeks earlier, Hintz had been arrested – and later was charged – with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver after being stopped by Trooper Keith Nestor for failure to wear a seat belt.
Hintz pleaded not guilty Friday, three days before his death, to the cocaine possession charges.
