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Deputy injured in wreck on South Main Street

December 13, 2011|By Laura Butler | lbutler@jessaminejournal.com

Photo by Laura Butler

A deputy from the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office was taken to the hospital Tuesday afternoon after being involved in a wreck on South Main Street.

Deputy Gerald Wheeler was taken to St. Joseph Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after his cruiser, which was headed south, struck a dump truck that was attempting to turn left from the southbound lane of Main Street onto John C. Watts Drive.

Nicholasville police officer Kevin Grimes said Wheeler was responding to an emergency call around 2 p.m. and had turned on his lights and siren as he attempted to pass traffic in the southbound lane of South Main Street, including an SUV and the dump truck.

The driver of the dump truck told police he did not see or hear Wheeler coming and went ahead and began the lefthand turn onto John C. Watts Drive when the cruiser collided with his truck, Grimes said. The driver of the truck did not suffer any injuries.

Nicholasville fire chief Charles Brumfield said the dump truck was from Nicholasville-based Eldridge Construction. The SUV sustained some damage after the deputy’s cruiser struck the dump truck, but neither the female driver, nor her child, were injured and they were able to drive away from the scene, Brumfield said.

The accident caused a significant diesel fuel leak from the dump truck. South Main Street remained closed for about an hour to traffic as workers from Nicholasville-based PECCO, Perdue Environmental Contracting Company, worked to clean up the fuel. Brumfield said the fuel spilled was probably less than 20 gallons.

Jessamine County sheriff chief deputy Allen Peel said Wheeler was getting checked out in the St. Joe emergency room Tuesday afternoon but was expected to be OK.

“He’s going to be really sore for awhile, but he’s going to be OK,” Peel said.

The accident is under investigation by the Nicholasville Police Department, but Grimes said none of the parties involved have been charged with anything.

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