• 23
  • July
    2010

A chain reaction of collisions occurring Monday morning on I-70 near Topeka resulted in at least three people suffering serious injuries. The crash reportedly occurred around 10 a.m. near milepost 188 on the Kansas Turnpike.

According to authorities, the driver of the first car, Juan Cardenas, of Kansas City, had pulled over along the shoulder of the road to replace a flat tire on his Pontiac sedan. A second vehicle, A Ford F-150 truck, driven by Alejandro Casas, of Lenexa, eventually parked on the side of the road behind Cardenas. Casas exited his vehicle with the intent of helping Cardenas fix his flat tire.

The first collision in the chain of events allegedly occurred when a Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Michelle Jones, of Gardner, struck the rear of Casas' truck sending it forward into a collision with Cardenas' Pontiac. This second collision forced the Pontiac back into traffic where it collided with a car driven by Claire Luyckx, of Ridgeway, Colorado.

The Pontiac remained in the path of oncoming traffic where it was finally hit one more by a semi-truck driven by Jason Crow, of Liberty, Missouri. Emergency vehicles, including a helicopter ambulance, responded to the scene to transport Cardenas, Casas and Jones to area hospitals for medical treatment. Reports are not clear, but the other passenger vehicle driver, Luyckx, may have also been taken to a hospital for evaluation.

An investigation is ongoing, but preliminary reports indicate that Jones, the driver of the Chevrolet pickup, may have fallen asleep while driving leading to the first collision with the truck parked along the side of the road.

Related Resources:

Topeka KS Multiple-Vehicle Crash: Semi, Truck, Car Wreck Injured 3 on I-70