The driver of a tractor-trailer rig that rear-ended a mobile restaurant at Highway 18 and Christensen Road last December, killing the other driver, has been found guilty of the Class B felony of criminally negligent homicide by Yamhill County Circuit Judge John Collins.

Devin Scott Lewis, 27, of Gresham, waived his right to a jury trial. Collins rendered his decision Wednesday, following two days of testimony.

Deputy District Attorney Alicia Eagan prosecuted the case. Lewis was defended by Clackamas attorney Patrick Birmingham.

Sentencing was set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 29. Both Eagan and Birmingham are expected to offer sentencing recommendations then, and relatives of victim Miguel Perez Martinez will also be given an opportunity to address the court.

Martinez, a 40-year-old resident of 1520 N.E. 16th St. in McMinnville, died at the scene. The Oregon State Police said he was making an 8:30 a.m. delivery for Rigo's Mexican Food of McMinnville.

Troopers gave this account:

Martinez, driving a 1988 Chevrolet 4300 motor home that had been modified to serve as a mobile restaurant, was westbound on Highway 18. He was beginning a left turn onto Christensen Road when he was struck from behind by a 2001 Mack tractor-trailer rig operated by Lewis.

The crash occurred in the Highway 18 Safety Corridor, which stretches from just west of McMinnville to a point two miles past Valley Junction in Polk County.

Lewis was driving for Walsh Trucking Co. Walsh operates a terminal in Willamina, but the rig was out of Troutdale, where the company is based.

The impact knocked the mobile restaurant into the eastbound lane, where it was struck by an unloaded 1998 Kenworth log truck driven by Michael Olson, 32, of Astoria. Olson was driving for Gedenberg Log Trucking of Astoria.

The mobile restaurant was registered to Rigoberto Lozano of McMinnville, who was operating Rigo's at the time. The impact spread food products and other debris across a wide area.

Lewis escaped injury. Olson suffered minor injuries that did not require hospitalization.

The state police served as the lead agency in the crash investigation, under the direction of Senior Trooper Bridget Taylor, a crash reconstructionist working out of the McMinnville office. The Yamhill County Multi-Agency Traffic Team provided assistance.

Reports were compiled and submitted by all of the agencies that responded. They were evaluated by Senior Trooper Jim Pierce, a Northwest Region crash reconstructionist based in Astoria.

The final report was submitted to the District Attorney's office, which decided to charge Lewis in late March.