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Karnes County's community newspaper
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(last updated on June 13, 2007)
Two airlifted after accident on Hwy 123
By Jason Clay Jansky
Several members of a Fort Worth family were hospitalized after their Suburban collided with another vehicle on State Highway 123 June 10.
The wreck happened at about 6 p.m. Erica Jones was turning off 123 onto F.M. 81 heading toward her home in Runge. She turned straight into a Suburban heading northbound occupied by Ft. Worth residents Maria and Jose Calderon and their five children.
Texas DPS Trooper Alfred Alejos said it was nearly a head-on collision.
"She stated she doesn’t know why she turned in front of the vehicle. The driver of the (Suburban) was doing the speed limit and didn’t have any time to make any type of evasive maneuver or brake," Alejos said. "It was kind of off-center to head on. Fortunately, there was an angle. If they would’ve hit dead on, it would’ve been a lot worse."
The impact sent the Pontiac Vibe into a 180-degree spin onto the southbound side of the roadway. The Suburban ended up across the northbound shoulder in the parking lot of Manka’s Store.
Karnes County Rescue responded to the scene to extract Maria Calderon from the Suburban. She and her husband Jose were airlifted to Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
All five of the children in the Suburban were taken to Otto Kaiser Memorial hospital. One 16-year-old child was later transported to a San Antonio hospital where he remains under care for internal abdominal injuries. The other children were treated and released and the parents have since been discharged from Brook Army Medical Center.
"Everybody in the vehicle had some type of injury because of the blunt force of the impact," Alejos said.
Erica Jones, her husband Robert, and their 2-year-old son Trenten were not seriously injured in the wreck.
All the occupants in both vehicles were wearing their seatbelts, police said.
Alejos said he plans to issue a citation to Erica Jones, but he didn’t specify what the charges would be.
jjansky@thecountywide.com