MAGOFFIN – Magoffin County Dispatch had an eventful weekend, with three road closures and a reported hit-and-run side-by-side accident keeping local crews busy last weekend.
Calls came into Magoffin County Dispatch on Saturday, April 6, reporting the loaded structure being stuck on KY Rt. 40. A man driving a pickup truck and hauling his own personal building hitched to his vehicle, reportedly went into a ditch next to the road and was unable to get it out of the ditch on his own. Crews worked for several hours to budge the truck and the building, with the roadway closed as they worked.
The driver told police he had been crowded off the road by an oncoming vehicle, resulting in his vehicle and the building he was moving to get stuck.
The very next day, the same driver, truck and building was stuck on U.S. 460 West near the Magoffin County Horse Park.
The second time the building was badly damaged and Magoffin County Sheriff Department Deputy Eugene Salyer order the building to be removed from the road, dismantled on site and not moved further except in pieces.
Between the two scenes of the accidents, there were a string of mailboxes taken out on Rt. 40 on Sunday as the building was being moved toward Morgan County area by a man from Carlisle, Kentucky.
The driver was not charged in either incident, deemed accidents. He claimed to be a private citizen moving his own property for himself. It is his burden to pay for the damages left behind from the incidents, including the damaged mailboxes, however, and he can be charged if those damages are not paid for.
At the same time as the second incident, a hit-and-run side-by-side accident in the Tip Top area was reported to Magoffin County 911.
The Magoffin County Rescue Squad, local law enforcement and EMS all responded to the area and did an extensive search after details came in, reporting that two adults and a small child (estimated at 2 to 5 years old), with the small child believed to be the most seriously injured in the wreck.
Crews searched the area extensively, but were unable to locate anyone related to the accident, leaving law enforcement unsure if a hit-and-run collision had occurred or the status of anyone who potentially could have been involved.
Also on Sunday, April 7, a motorist traveling in the Rt. 30 in the Arnett Curve, just past the intersection with the Mountain Parkway, clipped a tree that had just fallen into the road, resulting in the power lines that had come down with the tree wrapping around the vehicle.
The two adults in the SUV had to remain inside the vehicle until the power company could arrive and make sure the lines were not live in order to exit safely. No injuries were reported, but the road was closed for an extended amount of time while crews helped the occupants safely exit the vehicle and clean up the road.
