Investigation: Semi Driver Fell Asleep At Wheel
 
Keloland Television - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Wreck

NEAR BRIDGEWATER, SD - Authorities say the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 will be closed for a few more hours while crews clean up after an accident.

It happened around 9:15 a.m. Thursday near the Bridgewater exit. An investigation found the semi driver, Ronald Jessop, who works for a company out of Utah and was driving with a suspended license, fell asleep at the wheel. That's when officials say he hit a Ford Explorer being pulled by an RV owned by a Kansas couple.

The driver of the RV, 73-year-old Betty Sullivan of Wichita, had to be taken to the hospital after the crash with minor injuries. The passenger in the RV, 74-year-old Leonard Sullivan, also of Wichita, was trapped after the crash and is in the hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Jessop, 25, is in the McCook County jail; he's being charged with careless driving and driving with a suspended license.

Eastbound traffic on Interstate 90 is being rerouted north on 435th Avenue, east on Highway 38 and south on Highway 81.
 
Keloland.com
Originally broadcast July 8, 2010
 
Back