LARWILL — Three persons, all suffering internal injuries, were taken to Parkview Regional Medical Center, Fort Wayne, one by helicopter, following a 6:42 p.m. accident on US 30 at CR 400W, east of Larwill in Whitley County.
Jack Simmons, 81, East Hanna Street, Columbia City; Charles Tener, 80, North Main Street, Bourbon and Dreama Tener, 76, North Main Street, Bourbon, all suffered unknown internal injuries. Dreama Tener was flown to PRMC.
Whitley County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Tony Helfrich reported Simmons was northbound on CR 400W in a 2003 Toyota truck, when he failed to yield the right of way to US 30 traffic. Simmons drove his vehicle out in front of Charles Tener’s 2002 Chevrolet van, as he tried to cross US 30.
When the topper on Simmons’ vehicle came off in the crash, landing in the roadway, Thomas Helgeson, 19, LaCrosse Street, Beaver Dam, Wis., swerved his 2010 Ford to miss the topper, hitting the Simmons vehicle. Helgeson and a passenger, Nathaniel Uhrich, 19, Beaver Dam, Wis., were taken to Parkview Whitley County Hospital as a precaution.
The Simmons and Tener vehicles were totaled. Damage to Helgeson’s vehicle was estimated at over $5,000.