ARCANUM – Five people were injured in a three-vehicle crash late Wednesday morning that ended with the drivers of two vehicles being flown by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital.
At approximately 11:28 a.m., emergency personnel from Arcanum Fire and Rescue, Pitsburg Fire, Greenville Township Rescue and Tri-Village Rescue responded to the intersection of State Route 49 and Pitsburg-Laura Road along with CareFlight and deputies from the Darke County Sheriff’s Department in reference to a three-vehicle head-on injury crash.
According to the Darke County Sheriff’s Office, a preliminary investigation into the incident revealed that a silver Mazda 6, driven by Matthew Blaine, 39, of New Madison, was traveling northbound on State Route 49 and crossed left of center making contact with a southbound white Nissan Rouge driven b Keera Herbst, 33, of Dublin. The Mazda then continued on, colliding head-on with a green Jeep Cherokee, driven by Christopher Reynolds, 41, of Greenville, also southbound on State Route 49. Both vehicles came to rest in the southbound lane of traffic.
Blaine and Reynolds were mechanically extricated from their vehicles by fire crews and treated on the scene by EMS. Both drivers were transported to Miami Valley Hospital by CareFlight with non life-threatening injuries. Alishia Keith, 33, of Greenville, the front seat passenger in Blaine’s vehicle was transported to Wayne Hospital and later to Miami Valley Hospital with non life threatening injuries. Theresa Reynolds, 43, of Greenville, the front seat passenger in the Jeep Cherokee was also transported to Miami Valley Hospital with non life threatening injuries. As of 5:30 p.m., all occupants were still at Miami Valley Hospital. Keera Herbst was treated and released at the scene.
Deputies do suspect that the use of narcotics may have played a factor in the crash.
State Route 49 was shut down to all traffic for approximately 2 hours. This accident remains under investigation by the Darke County Sheriff’s Office.
