Weekend accidents summon emergency personnel

    Emergency personnel had another busy weekend with a pair of accidents, one on Saturday and another Sunday.
    The intersection of East 5th and Park Streets was the scene of a two-vehicle collision Saturday about 6:05 p.m. which resulted in a citation to one of the drivers.
    Fernando Ortega, 25, of Imperial was northbound on Park Street in a 2007 Dodge 1500 pickup. He told law enforcement he had stopped at the stop sign and waited for one vehicle to go by before continuing north, said Police Officer Kreighton Baxter.
    He apparently didn’t see, or misjudged the distance, of the 2012 Ford F-150 pickup driven by Bruce Way, 60, also of Imperial, which was headed west on 5th Street, Baxter said.
    The two pickups crashed, as Way’s vehicle tried to avoid the collision. Way veered right, and hit the stop sign on the north side of the intersection.
    Way’s driver’s side was impacted the most and sustained damage, while Ortega’s front and passenger sides took most of the brunt of the accident, Officer Baxter said.
    Way’s vehicle was towed. Ortega’s family moved his pickup back to his home a couple blocks away, the officer said.
    Both men were wearing seat belts.
    Way was taken to Chase County Community Hospital by Imperial EMS as a precaution, Baxter reported.
    Ortega refused treatment, according to the report. He was issued a citation for failure to yield.
    The sheriff’s office and IVFD also had personnel at the scene.
One-vehicle accident Sunday
    A minor accident called out emergency personnel Sunday, about two miles north of Imperial, just off Highway 61 on 740 Road.
    According to a report from Sheriff Kevin Mueller, Jose Luis Navarez, 53, of Imperial was westbound on the county road in a 2002 Chevy Avalanche, and told officers he couldn’t see the stop sign because of the sun in his eyes.
    When he realized he was about to go through the stop sign on Highway 61, he slammed on the brakes and slid sideways, causing the vehicle to go into the ditch onto its driver’s side, bending the mirror and damaging the driver’s side door.
    Two passengers were inside with him.
    Bill Sullivan of Imperial was approaching the hill to the north, and said he saw a huge pile of dust in the air ahead of him which came to an abrupt stop. He came upon the pickup in the ditch and helped them set the vehicle upright.
    Mueller said when deputies arrived on the scene the occupants were trying to tow the vehicle off.
    The driver was cited for no operator’s license, Mueller said.
    Imperial EMS and the fire department were also on the scene.