A three-vehicle accident yesterday morning in Jonesboro sends seven people to hospitals and left two utility poles nearly destroyed. The accident happened at around 10:30 near the intersection of South Patrick Street and East Washington Avenue. The accident reportedly involved a JETS bus, a dump truck, and a passenger car. Jonesboro police tell the Sun Newspaper the passenger car turned in front of the dump truck. The dump truck struck the car, sending it into a vacant lot. After the first collision, the force of the wreck reportedly pushed the dump truck into the JETS bus. Police say the dump truck was full of broken concrete, which added to the severity of the accident. The bus slammed into a utility pole. The 72-year-old driver of the passenger car was reportedly cited by police for hazardous driving. The 54-year-old passenger in the car reportedly was rushed to a hospital and suffered the most serious injuries in the accident. The driver of the dump truck was reportedly not injured in the accident. On the JETS bus, two drivers and some of the seven passengers on the bus were taken to the hospital for their injuries. Crews stated that it took at least three hours to clear the scene of the accident.
Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.