Three Crashes Reported On I-55 In Less Than 24 Hours With Pre-Christmas Storm

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported three accidents on Interstate 55 in Ste. Genevieve County on Monday, December 16, and Tuesday, December 17, as the region was facing winter weather that closed down schools and some businesses.

Only one accident report of the three specifically mentioned road conditions, although one involved a Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) plow truck. Only one of the injuries was reported as moderate; the others were minor.

That took place in the first accident, which was reported to have taken place around 9:55 a.m. on December 16.

The three-vehicle accident took place just south of mile marker 164.8 on northbound Interstate 55.

A 2016 Ford Escape being driven by Miranda Glasser, 37, of Blodgett, began to pass a MoDOT plow truck being driven by Daniel R. Fields, 33, of French Village, and a 2019 Freightliner Conventional being driven by Toshtemir Bahromov, 25, of Brooklyn, New York, was unable to slow down in time to avoid hitting the Ford.

The front of the Freightliner struck the rear of the Ford, which traveled back into the right lane. The front of the Ford then struck the rear of the MoDOT plow truck.

Three people were injured, all in the Ford.

Miranda Glasser suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Mercy Hospital Jefferson by the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District.

Two passengers, Stephen Glasser, 52, and a 16-year-old female, both from Blodgett as well, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Mercy Hospital Jefferson by the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District.

All three were wearing seat belts, according to the report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Fields and Bahromov also were wearing seat belts, according to the report.

— At 12:50 p.m. on December 16, a single-vehicle accident took place on I-55 at mile marker 156.

Danielle L. Dehart, 50, of Bloomsdale, was driving a 2005 GMC Envoy southbound when she lost control of the vehicle, which traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck an embankment.

Dehart suffered minor injuries and was taken to Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital by the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District.

She was wearing a seat belt, according to the report.

— The third accident in the 24-hour time period also was a single-vehicle crash, which took place at mile marker 163.2 on I-55.

At around 8:29 a.m. on December 17, Gerard J. Schwent, 69, of Ste. Genevieve was driving a 1996 Chevrolet C/K 1500 northbound when the vehicle began to slide on the wet and ice-covered roadway.

The vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway, struck an abandoned vehicle off the right side, then went airborne and began overturning. The vehicle came to rest on its top, facing south.

Schwent suffered minor injuries and was taken by the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District to Mercy Hospital Jefferson.

He was wearing a seat belt, according to the report.

TWO INJURED IN

DECEMBER 28 CRASH

Two minor injuries were reported in a single-vehicle accident that took place in Ste. Genevieve County around 12:40 p.m. on December 28.

The crash took place in the 7000 block of French Village Road.

A 2001 Ford Mustang being driven by Emma L. Byington, 18, of Festus, was traveling northbound when the vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected, ran off the left side of the roadway, struck a tree and overturned.

Both Byington and a passenger in the vehicle, 26-year-old Colt M. West of Park Hills, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Mercy Hospital Jefferson by the Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance District.

Byington was wearing a seat belt, but West was not, according to the report.

(Information from reports from the Missouri State Highway Patrol website.)