A single-vehicle accident Saturday night in western Iowa has claimed the life of a man from southeast Nebraska.
The crash happened on eastbound Interstate 80 west of Avoca, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol says a passenger in an SUV, 38-year-old Mario Rodriguez, of Talmage, Nebraska, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle as it rolled several times into the median. Three other people, including the driver, were injured.
The Patrol crash report says the 1996 Honda Passport driven by 26-year-old Jesus German went out of control and crashed at around 9 P.M. German, and his other passengers, 20-year old Steven Baney, and 26-year old Antonio Aguilar, all of Talmage, were injured in the crash. Investigators say alcohol and speed were considered to be factors in the accident.
German was transported by helicopter in serious condition, to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Baney and Aguilar were taken to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan, by Avoca Rescue. Authorities say charges are pending against Jesus German, while they awaiting the results of a toxicology report.
Baney and Aguilar were later released from the hospital, but Aguilar was being held in the Shelby County Jail, while awaiting extradition to Nebraska, where a felony warrant had been issued for his arrest from Otoe County.
(By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic)