Kansas Highway Patrol responded to three injury accidents in central Kansas over the weekend, including fatal collisions in Barton and Stafford counties and another accident in Ellsworth County.
According to the KHP Crash Logs, Richard E. Newick, 42, Great Bend, died after running a stop sign at 8:28 a.m. Sunday at the K-4/U.S. 281 junction (Boyd Blacktop), approximately 2.5 miles west of Hoisington. The 2001 Ford car he was driving was hit by a 2000 Acura driven by Corey N. Schwerdt, 28, of Topeka. Schwerdt was taken to Clara Barton Hospital in Hoisington and then transferred to Via Christi Health’s St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. A Via Christi spokesman said he remained in serious condition Monday afternoon.
Both cars went into the ditch. The car Newick was driving struck a telephone pole and rolled onto the driver side. Both drivers were wearing seat belts.
Also on Sunday, Amador Holguin-Rodriguez, 67, of El Paso, Texas, died after attempting to make a U-turn 12 miles north of St. John on U.S. 281 in Stafford County. He was southbound in a 1998 Chevrolet at 1:41 p.m. and was stopped on the shoulder of the highway when he attempted the turn. The pickup was hit by a 2011 Dodge pickup driven by Jordan Hickel, 28, of Great Bend.
Holguin-Rodriguez was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the pickup as both vehicles came to rest in the west ditch. Hickel was wearing a seat belt and was not injured.
KHP also responded to an accident at 4:11 p.m. Saturday in Ellsworth County, four miles east of Wilson on Interstate 70. Kathryn Orear Locke, 46, Junction City, was driving east in a 2004 Chrysler when she fell asleep and lost control of the car. She was transported to Ellsworth County Medical Center with undetermined injuries. She was wearing a seat belt.