UPDATED: Highway 227 fatality victim identified

The Sentinel-Record/Mara Kuhn FATALITY WRECK: Emergency personnel work the scene of a fatal wreck involving an antique motorcycle Saturday afternoon at 2229 Mountain Pine Road. The male driver, who was southbound, lost control on a curve and left the roadway, Arkansas State Police Cpl. Brandon Cook said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene by Garland County Deputy Coroner Ryan Hamilton. The accident occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m.
The Sentinel-Record/Mara Kuhn FATALITY WRECK: Emergency personnel work the scene of a fatal wreck involving an antique motorcycle Saturday afternoon at 2229 Mountain Pine Road. The male driver, who was southbound, lost control on a curve and left the roadway, Arkansas State Police Cpl. Brandon Cook said. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene by Garland County Deputy Coroner Ryan Hamilton. The accident occurred shortly before 2:30 p.m.

9:30 p.m. Monday update:

A preliminary report released earlier today by the Arkansas State Police has identified the victim of Saturday's second fatal crash as Ralph Kelly Gray Jr., 64, of Mountain Pine.

The report said Gray was southbound on Highway 227 north near Mountain Pine around 2:18 p.m. Saturday when he ran off the roadway while negotiating a curve on his 1988 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and struck a road sign.

10 p.m. Sunday update:

Arkansas State Police have identified the victim of Saturday morning’s fatal crash on Highway 70 east of Hot Springs as Daniel P. Hendricks, 22, of Malvern.

Also injured were Natalie N. Thomas, 23, of Hot Springs; Cynthia R. Thomas, 27, of Owasso, Okla., and a minor, age unknown.

Hendricks was the driver of a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, which was headed west on Highway 70 east when it crossed the centerline and struck a 2014 Toyota RAV4, which was eastbound, at 6:45 a.m. Saturday.

Natalie Thomas was the driver of the RAV4, and Cynthia Thomas and the minor were passengers, according to a preliminary fatal crash summary posted Sunday evening.

The accident occurred east of the Highway 128 intersection.

Hot Springs police on Sunday identified the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash on Saturday as Sharkeetrya Dunwood, of Hot Springs.

Dunwood was southbound on Central shortly before 4 p.m. in a 2010 Chevy Aveo when she lost control of her vehicle and struck the Continental Motel, located at 1535 Central Ave., the police department said in a news release.

Witnesses on Saturday said it appeared Dunwood was slumped over the wheel of her vehicle.

“Upon impact with the Continental Motel, Dunwood’s vehicle spun clockwise and then flipped over,” the release said. A pedestrian identified as Michael Wicker, of Hardy, who was walking on the sidewalk of the east side of Central was struck by Dunwood’s vehicle. Wicker was transported to a local hospital where he later died.

Original article:

Three people were killed in three separate vehicle crashes on area roadways on Saturday, including one that occurred on a deadly stretch of Highway 70 east and another involving a pedestrian that shut down part of Central Avenue.

Hot Springs police Officer Shawn Stillian said that, according to witnesses, a Chevrolet Aveo was southbound on Central Avenue near Hobson Avenue around 4 p.m. when its female driver slumped over the wheel and crossed both northbound lanes. The Aveo struck the Continental Motel building, overturned and struck a pedestrian on the sidewalk, he said.

Hot Springs Police Chief Jason Stachey identified the pedestrian, who later died from his injuries, as Michael Wicker, of Hardy.

Central Avenue was closed from Hobson to Garland as the scene was cleared. The driver of the Aveo was transported by LifeNet to a local hospital.

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The Sentinel-Record/Mara Kuhn PEDESTRIAN KILLED: Emergency personnel prepare to transport the driver of a Chevrolet Aveo that struck a building and overturned, seriously injuring a pedestrian, Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Hobson and Central avenues. The pedestrian later died.

Earlier in the afternoon, the male driver of an antique motorcycle was killed in a single-vehicle wreck on Mountain Pine Road. The driver, who was southbound, lost control on a curve and left the roadway at 2229 Mountain Pine Road shortly before 2:30 p.m., Arkansas State Police Cpl. Brandon Cook said. The driver, whose identity had not been released by presstime, was pronounced dead at the scene by Garland County Deputy Coroner Ryan Hamilton.

The fatality on Highway 70 east occurred early Saturday morning. One person was killed and three other people were injured in the head-on collision, according to Arkansas State Police.

The fatality is believed to be the first death on the stretch of Highway 70 east between Hot Springs and Interstate 30 since December 2015. That portion of Highway 70 claimed 12 lives in 2015, including Chris Carney, the son of Hot Springs Mayor Ruth Carney, in a fatal crash on Dec. 4. That was the last time state police records show a fatality occurred on the roadway. The crash also killed Carney's friend, Ezekiel J. Blanton.

The wreck occurred about 6:45 a.m. when a Chevrolet Cobalt traveling westbound on Highway 70 crossed the centerline and struck an eastbound Toyota RAV4 near the intersection of Highway 70 and Highway 128, Arkansas State Police Trooper 1st Class Brian Burke said.

The driver of the Cobalt was pronounced dead at the scene by Garland County Deputy Coroner Ryan Hamilton. One passenger in the RAV4 was taken by a LifeNet helicopter to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock. The driver and a second passenger in the RAV4 were take by a LifeNet ambulance to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, he said.

State police cleared the scene on Highway 70 shortly after 9 a.m. Burke said the wreck was still under investigation Saturday. The names had not been released as of presstime.

The Garland County Sheriff's Department and the Lonsdale Fire Department assisted.

Burke said the fatality is believed to be the first on that portion of Highway 70 east since December, and there are no other fatality reports listed for that area on the state police fatal crash summaries website.

In response to the fatalities in 2015, the Arkansas State Police and the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department took measures late last year to increase safety on the roadway.

State police, in addition to stepped-up enforcement, conducted saturation efforts that resulted in numerous citations being issued for speeding and other infractions. The highway department installed centerline rumble strips in an effort to make drivers more aware of when they are deviating from their travel lane, and put portable signs on the roadway to remind drivers to slow down.

Local on 05/29/2016

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