McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

Local News

November 19, 2008

Savanna woman killed on U.S. 69

By James Beaty

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has released the name of a woman killed Monday night while trying to cross U.S. Highway 69 in Savanna.

Violet A. Ward, 69, of Savanna, died at the scene due to massive injuries, the highway patrol said.

The driver of a semi truck and trailer which struck Ward, Garry L. Wellman, 57, of Bellevue, Neb., was not injured, the OHP said.

The accident occurred at 8:28 p.m. on Monday at U.S. Highway 69 and First Street as Wellman was northbound in a 2005 International truck in the highway’s outside lane and Ward was walking east while crossing the highway, according to the OHP.

Ward crossed the highway in the path of another vehicle that was traveling in the inside lane, the highway patrol said. That driver was able to stop in time to avoid hitting Ward, according to the highway patrol.

Wellman, driving the truck, saw this and swerved to the right to avoid hitting Ward, who continued walking east into the path of the truck, the highway patrol said.

Ward was struck by the back trailer tires of the International truck, according to the highway patrol.

The OHP withheld Ward’s name on Tuesday until the next of kin could be notified.

Trooper Daniel Hackler of Troop D of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s Pittsburg County detachment investigated the accident, with assistance by trooper Dennis Splawn and Lt. Berry Heath.

Meanwhile, a Hartshorne woman and infant have been injured in a single-vehicle accident which occurred Monday near Haileyville.

Lisa Ann Dorrell, 28, suffered multiple injuries in the accident, said the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

She was transported by Hartshorne Emergency Medical Service to the McAlester Regional Health Center and from there transported to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, the highway patrol said. She was listed in critical condition.

A passenger in Dorrell’s pickup, Kyzer Emberton, 5-months-old, was also transported by ambulance to the McAlester hospital, where he was treated and released, the highway patrol said.

The accident occurred at 11:47 a.m. a half-mile west of Haileyville on U.S. Highway 270.

Dorrell was eastbound in a 2005 Ford pickup when the pickup ran off the roadway to the right, the highway patrol said.

Dorrell overcorrected and the pickup ran off the roadway to the left, rolling approximately two times, according to the highway patrol. Both Dorrell and the infant were ejected, the highway patrol said.

OHP Trooper Garrett Gray of the Pittsburg County Detachment of Troop D headquarters in McAlester investigated the accident, with assistance from trooper Jeremy Tolman.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.

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