Wreck closes highway, injures two
Two persons were injured, one of them seriously, in a two-vehicle collision in south Oneida Saturday afternoon that resulted in Alberta Street being closed for nearly two hours.
The accident occurred at 3:26 p.m. Saturday near Volunteer Gas on Alberta Street, just south of the Scott Plaza shopping center.
According to a report filed by investigating officer Gerry Garrett of the Oneida Police Department, a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old male and traveling north on Alberta Street crossed the center line and into the path of a southbound vehicle, striking the vehicle nearly head-on.
The northbound vehicle, a 1994 Cadillac, spun and came to rest in the northbound lane, while the southbound vehicle, a 2002 GMC driven by Jimmy L. Chambers, of Winfield, came to rest in the parking lot of Jeffers Nursery.
The driver of the Cadillac, a 15-year-old with a Lafayette, Tenn., address and described by authorities as being an illegal alien, was trapped in the wreckage of his vehicle. His 23-year-old passenger, Jose P. Rodriguez Gomez, of a Greensboro, N.C., address, was also injured. Chambers escaped injury in the accident.
The Scott County Rescue Squad was dispatched to the scene almost immediately to assist with extrication efforts. The Oneida Fire Department and several units from Scott County EMS also responded. The Scott County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol also provided assistance.
Alberta Street was closed until shortly after 5 p.m. while the victims were treated and prepared for transport and the scene was cleared. Traffic was rerouted onto Coopertown Road by way of Verdun Road and Industrial Lane.
Both Gomez and the juvenile driver of the Cadillac were transported by paramedics to St. Mary’s Medical Center of Scott County, where the youth was airlifted to University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
According to Garrett’s report, the juvenile was charged with driving without a license, violation of the financial responsibility law, simple possession of marijuana and vandalism.