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PROSSER -- A motorist and his passenger were seriously injured in a crash late Thursday night while fleeing a sheriff's deputy in the Prosser area, the Benton County Sheriff's Office said.

The crash culminated a brief, high-speed chase that began at 11:30 p.m. when a 1993 Honda Civic fled a traffic stop on Hanks Road, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

The deputy began to lose sight of the Civic, then found himself fighting for control of his patrol unit after he passed through a cloud of dust on Griffin Road and hit something.

The cloud of dust apparently had been kicked up by the Civic, which the deputy soon realized had crashed into an orchard. The object the deputy hit was a wheel from the Civic that had bounced back onto the road after the Civic hit a tree.

Two badly injured occupants of the car were rescued from the Civic by firefighters using hydraulic "Jaws of Life" equipment.

The sheriff's office identified the driver as 23-year-old Jose Ricardo Herrera-Solis of Grandview and said he suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash.

Herrera-Solis was taken to Kadlec Hospital in Richland, then transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. An update on his medical condition is pending.

Deputies did not identify the passenger, saying he was a juvenile. They reported say he broke both of his legs.

The crash remains under investigation. Deputies said alcohol and drugs may have played a role, and that criminal charges may be recommended to prosecutors.