Accidents keep emergency crews busy
—Photo by R.J. COHN<br>Emergency personnel rushed to head-on crash on U.S. 95 in front of Rokstad Ford late Friday afternoon that sent four people to the hospital.
PONDERAY — A pair of head-on auto accidents in North Idaho Friday afternoon left one person dead and several others in area hospitals.
In the first accident, near the Bonner Mall on U.S. 95 in Ponderay, four people were taken to Bonner General Hospital with injuries from that accident, the Idaho State Police reported.
Benjamin C. Reese, 75, and Elizabeth H. Reese, 72, both of Sagle, were hurt when David Potter, 53, of Spokane, who was southbound, crossed into the left-hand turn lane and into the northbound traffic, striking the Reese vehicle, a press release from ISP said. A 16-year-old from California was a passenger in the 1992 Buick LeSabre driven by Potter.
Benjamin and Elizabeth Reese, and the 16-year-old are listed in good condition at Bonner General. Potter was transferred to a Seattle hospital, according to a nursing supervisor.
Investigations continue into both accidents.
Later, a person was killed in a three-vehicle accident near the state line.
The accident happened when a westbound vehicle on Seltice Way passed another on the right at a high rate of speed, said a press release from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department. The speeding vehicle struck the one in the left lane, propelling it into a third eastbound auto near Cruisers.
"The truck was exactly like my husband's," said Sheri Herberholz, who runs Cruiser's with husband Larry and had just left the bar. "He thought it was me."
Larry was inside and heard the crash, and said all three vehicles appeared totaled, including the red Dodge Ram similar to his. Another car involved was a Jaguar with a woman inside.
"I went outside and held the gal's head for a while," he said. "She was unconscious but had stable vital signs."
A child, who he said had been in the back seat of one vehicle, was walking around, but then collapsed, he said.
Two of the drivers were taken to Kootenai Medical Center, where one later died.
The sheriff's office said it is not known if drugs or alcohol were a factor, and did not release any of the victims' names.