Wayward fertilizer spreader damages local residence

Thursday, April 8, 2010

By The Times News Staff

This runaway fertilizer spreader caused heavy damage to the home of Rodney and Kim Rouse Thursday afternoon. The trailer reportedly came loose from the truck that was pulling it east on West Main Street at the time of the mishap. It rolled across two yards and impacted the home on the northeast corner. (Times photo/Tim Blair) [Click to enlarge]

A runaway fertilizer spreader did considerable damage to a home on West Main Street in the city Thursday, April 1.

The damage was sustained to the residence of Rodney and Kim Rouse, 920 West Main Street, after the spreader came loose from a truck being driven by Jeff Wolfenbarger of Holly Island.

Apparently, Wolfenbarger was driving east on West Main Street at the time of the mishap. As the vehicle he was driving crested the hill at the intersection of Main and South Tenth Avenue, the spreader trailer apparently came loose. The wayward trailer then crossed a yard, narrowly missing a power pole and tree, and impacted the northeast corner of the Rouse residence.

There was a great deal of damage to the structure, although it was limited to the immediate area of the impact. No one was home at the time, and there were no injuries. Wolfenbarger was cited by the investigating officer, Patrolman Scott Redmon, for failure to properly secure a trailer

Boat breaks loose on North 27th

Courtesy photo
A boat and trailer traveled for about a half-mile, sideswiping a car along the way, down a busy downtown street Wednesday afternoon after they became detached from the truck pulling them.

Gazette Staff | Posted: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 10:59 pm | (10) Comments

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_bdaa0d88-484c-11df-82d8-001cc4c002e0.html

A boat and trailer traveled for about a half-mile, sideswiping a car along the way, down a busy downtown street Wednesday afternoon after they became detached from the truck pulling them.

Billings Police Lt. RD Harper said a 41-year-old Billings man, whose name has not been released, was driving a Dodge pickup truck southbound on North 27th Street when the trailer holding the 15-foot Bayliner motorboat became unhitched at about 4:40 p.m. near Montana State University Billings.

The trailer and boat rolled south on 27th, crossed into the oncoming traffic lane and sideswiped a northbound Saab passenger car near the intersection with Mountain View Boulevard. The trailer continued to head down 27th and the boat eventually fell off.

A northbound Ford passenger car ran over the trailer’s tongue while the boat traveled south for another 0.3 miles, Harper said, before finally coming to a stop in the driveway of several businesses at the intersection of 27th and 12th Avenue North.

“We were working and looked out the window,” said Jamie Conrad, who owns Willow Creek Day Spa, at 1139 N. 27th St. “It was like, ‘There goes a boat and it’s going down the wrong way.’”

A group of softball players from MSUB was able to get the boat out of the road, Harper said, and it was later loaded back up onto the trailer.

No injuries were reported and no citations were issued.

1 Dead in BMW vs. Trailer Collision..Driver With Trailer went through Red Light.

Just a horrific Accident: Questions must be asked.
What special training is required before you can tow?

Did the trailer that is double axle have a secondary breaking system?

Was the Pick up rated to tow and stop a trailer of this weight class?

Why couldn't she stop? Was the combination of Pick UP weight and trailer too much?

What would be happening now if a Tractor Trailer from a company did this?

1 Dead in BMW vs. Trailer Collision

Updated: Friday, 02 Apr 2010, 10:20 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 02 Apr 2010, 4:07 PM MDT

PHOENIX - A driving lesson turns deadly for a valley man after an F-150 truck pulling a horse trailer and a BMW car collide in north Phoenix.

It happened about 2 p.m. at the intersection of 32nd St and Greenway.

A 15-year-old with a learners permit was driving the BMW. The passenger of the BMW, an adult male, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The female driver of the truck and the 15-year-old were transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.

There were no animals in the horse trailer.

Police say the boy was attempted to turn left on a green light when he was hit by the truck. Investigators are trying to determine who was at fault.

The victims' names have not yet been released.

FOX 10's Britt Moreno has the eyewitness account.

Man guilty of animal cruelty...Tied Horse To Trailer

Published Saturday March 13, 2010

Man guilty of animal cruelty

LEXINGTON — A Kearney man has been found guilty of felony animal cruelty after police say he dragged a horse behind his trailer last summer.

Tyler Brockman, 22, pleaded no contest Friday in Dawson County District Court to one count of felony cruelty to an animal resulting in injury or death.

Judge James Doyle ordered Brockman to undergo a presentence investigation to be conducted by the state probation department.

Sentencing will be in May. Brockman faces up to five years in prison.

Brockman had participated in the annual July 4 rodeo at Sumner. Court records said after the rodeo, he went to the bar and drank what he later told a counselor was five to six beers before leaving.

Before entering the bar, Brockman had tied a horse to the back of his stock trailer. After leaving the bar, Brockman left in the pickup and drove through Sumner with the horse still tied to the back of the trailer.

Brockman dragged the horse for about a mile before a person stopped him just east of Sumner. The horse was put into the trailer, and Brockman left the area.

Brockman was stopped later that evening in Buffalo County and arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. The horse was found dead July 6 on a farm north of Funk in Phelps County. — World-Herald News Service

Nurse Dies In Vietnam Vets Blvd. Wreck Vanberbilt Nurse Killed After Leaving Work; Son Prepares For NCAA Tournament

Nurse Dies In Vietnam Vets Blvd. Wreck

Vanberbilt Nurse Killed After Leaving Work; Son Prepares For NCAA Tournament

POSTED: 6:08 am CDT March 15,2010

UPDATED: 9:59 pm CDT March 15,2010

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. -- A local nurse who is the mother of a Murray State basketball player was killed Monday morning after a Dumpster came loose from a truck on Vietnam Veterans Boulevard.

Related: 6 p.m. Report | Images | Noon Report | Morning Report

At about 5:30 a.m., an Allied Waste Services truck lost its trailer, which was carrying an empty Dumpster, according to investigators. This caused a chain-reaction crash involving a tractor-trailer and a car. When that load detached, two cars smashed into the trailer.One of the drivers, Vanderbilt nurse Freeda Simmons, 50, died from her injuries at about 7:30 a.m.Minutes after the first round of collisions, the driver of a tractor-trailer carrying Pepsi products smashed into the empty Dumpster and hit a retaining wall.

There was no indication that any of the drivers were impaired at the time of the wreck.Investigators with the Tennessee Highway Patrol are trying to determine whether or not the Allied Waste trailer was properly attached.D ocuments show that this is the first wreck of its kind that the company has had in the past decade.The other drivers involved are expected to survive.

Murray State Player Will Travel To Game Despite Loss Of Mother Simmons' son is a Murray State basketball player, whose team plays in the first round of the NCAA tournament this week against Vanderbilt.Murray State spokesman Dave Winder told The Associated Press that Simmons' son, Picasso Simmons, is planni ng to go to the Racers' game

Emergency Room Nurse Killed On Way Home From Work By Loose Trailer

Emergency Room Nurse Killed On Way Home From Work

Posted: Mar 15, 2010 6:18 PM EDT Updated: Mar 15, 2010 6:54 PM EDT

By Amanda Hara

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Freeda Simmons left Vanderbilt's emergency room as a nurse and returned as a patient after a crash on Vietnam Veterans Boulevard in Gallatin Monday morning. Despite their best efforts, co-workers could not save her.

The 50 year old had been a nurse at Vanderbilt for seven years.

"She was a great woman of faith. She was a great woman that just loved her patients, loved the staff, and the staff loved her. The physicians loved her. The nurses loved her, and it's been real hard," said Emergency Services director Gary Howard.

Early Monday morning, Freeda graced her patients and left for home, but never made it.

She was caught behind an Allied Waste Services truck that lost its dumpster container. Police said her Honda Prelude slammed into the loose trailer.
Two Semis Crash, Closing Vietnam Veterans Boulevard

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating whether the tractor trailer was properly hitched.

"Freeda was an amazing nurse. I mean we need more like her. I would get lots and lots of compliments on how comforting and how inspiring and how reassuring it was to have Freeda taking care of them," said Howard.

Simmon's ran track and field for Murray State in the 80's. Her son Picasso plays basketball for the University. He said he will still go to the NCAA tournament on Thursday in her honor.

E-mail: ahara@newschannel5.com

1 dead in Vietnam Vets pileup

Allied Waste truck and Pepsi among vehicles in the crash

By Eric Miller • Hendersonville Star News • March 15, 2010

One woman was killed and another person injured in a multiple-car pileup on Vietnam Veterans Boulevard early Monday morning.

According to Hendersonville police, an Allied Waste truck lost a trailer, resulting in the crash at approximately 5:20 a.m. The truck was traveling eastbound on Vietnam Veterans.

The trailer became detached from the cab of the truck, according to Mike Browning, Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman.

Two vehicles, a 1999 Honda Prelude and a 1998 Mazda minivan struck the trailer, causing the empty dumpster container being hauled on the trailer to fall into the road, resulting in a second crash when it was struck by a Pepsi truck, Browning said.

The driver of the Honda, 50-year-old Freeda J. Simmons, of Gallatin, was transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center. She was pronounced dead at 7:34 a.m., Browning said.

Jada Pratt, 29, of Goodlettsville, driver of the minivan, was transported to Hendersonville Medical Center, where she was treated and released.

The driver of the Allied Waste truck, Darvin C. Mann, 53, of Charlotte, was uninjured, as was the driver of the Pepsi truck, 57-year-old Jimmy L. Hanserd.

THP’s Critical Emergency Response Team also responded to the crash scene, and an investigation is ongoing.

“A post-crash inspection is being conducted on the tractor-trailer as part of the ongoing investigation, to include whether the dumpster container was adequately secured,” Browning said.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash at this time.

All lanes were reopened by 7:43 a.m., Browning said.

Reporter Eric Miller can be reached at 575-7115 or ebmiller@mtcngroup.com.