Car-train crash kills driver, 3 passengers

Four people were killed in a crash Saturday evening involving a train at a railroad crossing in northeastern Arkansas, state police said.

Shortly before 5:40 p.m., 44-year-old John W. Miller of Orange Park, Fla., attempted to cross railroad tracks at a private drive near U.S. 49 in the Cross County town of Tilton, according to a preliminary report.

Police say a southbound train then struck the westbound Hyundai Sonata that Miller was driving. Miller died as a result of injuries in the crash.

According to authorities, three passengers were also killed: Joetta R. Honey, 48, of Jonesboro; Nicholas L. Newton, 30, of McCrory; and Kayanna R. Newton, 21, of McCrory.

The weather was described as clear and roads were said to be dry at the time.

A second northeast Arkansas crash, this one Friday morning, left a 26-year-old man dead, police said.

The three-vehicle wreck happened shortly after 9:30

a.m. on U.S. 49 at Mockingbird Lane in Paragould, according to a preliminary report from the Arkansas State Police.

Authorities say a northbound Chevrolet driven by Wesley Scott Crossno of Paragould crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into a stopped southbound vehicle listed as a Freightliner.

Crossno’s vehicle then hit the driver’s side of a Jaguar also stopped in southbound traffic, according to the report.

Crossno suffered fatal injuries as a result of the crash, state police said, noting that he was taken to Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. No one else was reported hurt.

The weather was listed as clear and the highway was described as dry at the time.