A 23-year-old driver died at a hospital hours after his Cadillac sedan left State Street in Salem and slammed into a telephone pole early Monday morning. Landon Dayne Bell was behind the wheel when the crash happened just after 12:30 a.m. near the 1300 block of State Street, and a passenger riding with him was treated for minor injuries and released.
Officers responded to the crash just after 12:30 a.m., according to kptv.com, which reported that the Cadillac was headed westbound when it left the roadway and struck the pole. Bell was taken to a hospital, where he died a few hours later, police said. His passenger was also taken to a hospital, where the injuries were described as minor before the person went home following treatment.
The Salem Police Department has not released additional details about what caused the Cadillac to leave the road, and the investigation remains open, per the same account. State Street was closed until 3:45 a.m. Monday as crews worked the scene, according to KATU, whose reporting on the overnight closure adds another detail to the account from kptv.com.
A Difficult Year on Salem's Roads
Monday's crash was the latest in a string of fatal collisions that have rattled Salem this year. Police told KATU that six deadly crashes have claimed six lives in Salem so far in 2026, including a 32-year-old woman who died in a crash back in August and a 54-year-old man killed in March.
That March crash was identified separately as the death of Daniel Lewis, a 54-year-old Salem resident who was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-vehicle collision on Lancaster Drive Northeast near Weathers Street Northeast, according to a separate kptv.com report. Witnesses told police a speeding white Mercedes SUV struck Lewis's Mustang before driving away, and his 31-year-old passenger was taken to the hospital and was expected to recover.
Salem also recorded its first fatal motorcycle crash of the year back in January, when a collision at Hines and 18th Streets SE killed 37-year-old motorcyclist Sean Elliott Mobley. The City of Salem said Mobley was riding a 2018 Honda motorcycle when he collided with a 2018 Honda SUV driven by a 28-year-old man; no arrests had been made and no citations had been issued at the time of that release.
No Cause Determined, Investigation Ongoing
Investigators have not said what led Bell's Cadillac to leave State Street, and no citations or arrests connected to Monday's crash have been announced. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Salem Police Traffic Team at (503) 588-6293.
