Two drivers extricated from crashes on Sprigg Street

Cape Girardeau firefighters extricated a driver from a crash about 2 p.m. Monday on North Sprigg Street.

The driver of a Pontiac Grand Am struck a Chevrolet Malibu before driving off the right side of the roadway and striking a utility pole.

The transformer on the pole fell onto the hood of the car.

The driver was taken to a hospital after the crash, Cape Girardeau police officer Mark Wyatt said.

The college-age driver and passenger of the Malibu appeared uninjured in the crash.

A Ford Explorer rear-ended a Nissan Sentra, which slowed after the initial crash.

Neither driver of those vehicles, a college-age man and woman, appeared to be injured.

Southbound traffic on Sprigg Street was opened at 2:45 p.m., and the Grand Am and Malibu were towed about 3 p.m.

Several hours earlier, Cape Girardeau firefighters extricated a woman from a rollover crash about 8:30 a.m. Monday near Sprigg and Olive streets.

The woman’s Dodge Avenger overturned on its driver side off the left side of the roadway near Southeast Missouri State University.

Cape Girardeau’s technical-rescue team stabilized the vehicle using ropes connected to telephone poles to extricate the woman safely.

“We deal with a lot of physics,” technical rescue team master firefighter Chris Venable said. “With every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

The driver initially was treated by emergency medical technicians at the scene, but she walked away on her own power.

She was checked by a Cape Girardeau police officer before being released from the scene.

The crash blocked Sprigg Street until about 9:20 a.m.

Pertinent address: Olive and Sprigg street, Cape Girardeau, MO