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Two airlifted following Tuesday crash
October 5, 2006
A Lancing man and his 15-year-old son were airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, and an Oneida woman faces traffic charges following a three-vehicle crash that closed Alberta Street in south Oneida for nearly two hours Tuesday.
According to Officer Gerry Garrett of the Oneida Police Department, Gregory Bunch, of the Lancing community in Morgan County, and Bunch’s 15-year-old son, Jeremy Bunch, were occupants of a 1990 Subaru Legacy, which wound up beneath the tires of a 2005 Freightliner following the 10:45 a.m. collision, which occurred in front of Fastenal Tools, near Volunteer Gas.
Both occupants of the Legacy were pinned in the wreckage for approximately 90 minutes as the Scott County Rescue Squad worked to free them. A large tow truck, owned by Reed’s Wrecker Service in Helenwood, was called to the scene to lift the Freightliner off the car, while the Rescue Squad used its “Jaws of Life” tool to sheer the roof from the vehicle and extricate the driver from the wreckage.
Both of the vehicle’s occupants were transported by Scott County EMS to Scott County Hospital ER’s helipad, from where they were airlifted to UT.
According to Officer Garrett, the driver of the Freightliner, which was owned by American Tire Distributors, was William A. Schuelke, of Knoxville.
The other vehicle involved in the accident was a 1992 Chevrolet Astrovan, driven by Sandra Stanley, of Oneida.
Garrett declined to indicate early Tuesday afternoon how the accident occurred, due to an ongoing investigation that was not expected to be completed until late Tuesday, after the Independent Herald’s press deadline. However, the Independent Herald has learned that Stanley has been charged with following too closely, failure to maintain control of her vehicle, and violation of the financial responsibility law.
Both the Legacy and the Freightliner came to rest in a ditch between the highway and Norfolk-Southern railroad tracks. Both lanes of Alberta Street were closed until approximately 12:30 p.m. as the victims were extricated from their vehicle and OPD officers conducted their investigation at the scene. Traffic was re-routed onto Coopertown Road by way of Verdun Road and Industrial Lane. Rail traffic on Norfolk-Southern’s tracks was also stopped for a period of time.
In addition to OPD, the Rescue Squad and Scott County EMS, also responding to the scene were units from the Oneida Fire Department and one unit from the Scott County Sheriff’s Department.
news@ihoneida.com
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