The manager of a used car lot in Houston was one of four people injured in a three-vehicle crash Wednesday night on U.S. 63 about five miles south of Rolla.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Rolla resident Paul Jordan, 56, sustained moderate injuries when a 2007 Saturn Ion he was driving northbound slammed into a 2000 Toyota Tacoma that was stopped in the highway after a collision with a southbound 2007 Ford Fusion about a minute earlier.
The patrol said the Fusion was being driven by Nikole L. Baumgartner, 26, of Rolla, when it crossed the centerline at the bridge over Beaver Creek at about 5:50 p.m. and struck head-on the Tacoma, driven by John A. Birdsong, 31, of Dixon.
Baumgartner suffered serious injuries and was transported by Mercy LifeLine to University Hospital in Columbia.
Birdsong also was seriously hurt and was transported by Phelps County Ambulance to Phelps County Regional Medical Center (PCRMC).
Caroline A. Loughridge, 24, of St. James, a passenger in Birdsong’s vehicle, suffered moderate injuries and was transported by Air Evac to Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur.
Jordan was transported by Phelps County ambulance to PCRMC.
The patrol reported that some of the trio of vehicles’ occupants were entrapped and had to be extricated, and that Jordan – who manages Autos 4 You on U.S. 63 south in Houston – was the only person injured in the wreck who was wearing a seat belt.
All three vehicles were totaled. Assisting at the scene were the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, Rolla Police Department, Rolla Rural Fire Protection District and the ambulance districts.