Article Options

Murphysboro police kept busy by three consecutive crashes Tuesday

Thursday, June 5, 2008 11:58 AM CDT

MURPHYSBORO — Police were kept busy on Walnut Street Tuesday as three traffic crashes occurred consecutively on Murphysboro’s main street.

Officers from the Murphysboro Police Department responded to the first accident at 5:09 p.m. on the west side of the Big Muddy Bridge, according to a press release from the department. Witnesses stated that Wil-liam Wyatt, 38, of Gorham had apparently become ill while driving east on Walnut Street.

Wyatt’s vehicle hit the guardrail and came to a stop on the west side of the bridge. He was taken to St. Jo-seph Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Six minutes after initially responding to Wyatt’s crash, police were notified of a four-vehicle chain reac-tion crash in the westbound lanes of Walnut Street, just west of Williams Street.

Officers learned a vehicle driven by Barbara Krause, 48, of Gorham collided with the rear of a vehicle driven by Rose Calandro, 47, of Murphysboro. Calandro’s vehicle then struck the rear of a truck driven by Gary Beckman, 57, of Murphysboro. Beckman’s truck then collided with the rear of a car driven by Char-lotte Wyatt, 57, of Murphysboro.

Krause and Wyatt were taken to St. Joseph Memorial Hospital for treatment, and Calandro went to the same hospital in a private vehicle. The Calandro and Krause vehicles had to be towed from the scene.

While at the scene, police learned that Keith Ridings, 47, of Murphysboro had been westbound on Walnut Street and was approaching the rear of the Krause vehicle seconds after the crash. He applied his brakes and veered to the right, but he struck the rear corner of Krause’s vehicle with the front corner of his truck. Ridings continued off the pavement and came to rest on the grass slope to the right of the shoulder of the road.

Just after clearing that scene, another crash was reported at Walnut and Sezmore streets. Officers there learned that a vehicle driven by Nathan Wittman, 24, of Carbondale struck the rear of a vehicle driven by Kristen Miller, 45, of Carbondale.

Neither driver nor Miller’s passengers were injured, but Wittman’s vehicle had to be towed from the scene. Illinois State Police and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department assisted with these incidents.