Fatal collision partially closes expressway
A driver headed the wrong way on the King Expressway was killed Thursday morning after his truck collided with two other vehicles in the eastbound lanes between the Higdon and Central intersections, according to Hot Springs police.
Hot Springs police Cpl. Joey Williams identified the driver as Jimmie Sargent, 74, of Hot Springs, who was operating a 1987 Ford Ranger pickup truck westbound on the expressway at around 6:20 a.m. when he collided head-on with an eastbound 2007 GMC Sierra driven by Brenden Rice, 21, of Royal.
After the Ranger and Sierra collided, a third vehicle, a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban driven by Shelby Villegas, 33, of Hot Springs, which was eastbound behind Rice, collided with the front of the Ranger, according to a preliminary fatal crash summary by police.
Sargent was pronounced dead at the scene, Williams said, while Rice and Villegas were both transported by LifeNet to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs with non-life-threatening injuries.
The eastbound lanes were closed for about three hours as a result of the wreck, reopening shortly before 9:30 a.m. By the morning rush hour, eastbound traffic on the expressway was backed up for more than 3 miles; traffic was exiting onto McLeod and taking alternate routes. Traffic was also backed up on Lakeshore at the Higdon intersection.
There was also a minor wreck in the same area involving three vehicles that were not part of the fatal collision, Williams said. That wreck, which reportedly occurred among the vehicles backed up by the fatality wreck, was being investigated by Arkansas State Police and did not involve any injuries.
Williams said the fatality wreck was still under investigation. The summary noted it was cloudy, overcast and dark at the time of the wreck.