Weather-related crash injures deputy, three others

A Cape Girardeau County sheriff's deputy was back at work Tuesday after a weather-related crash Monday afternoon that sent him and three other people -- including two children -- to the hospital.

Deputy Benjamin L. Juergens, 29; the other driver, Angela N. Martinez, 35; and two children, ages 1 and 9, all sustained moderate injuries and were taken by ambulance to Saint Francis Medical Center, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.

Capt. David James of the Cape Girardeau

County Sheriff's Department said Juergens was back at work Tuesday, and the other driver and her passengers were up and moving around after the crash.

"Troopers told me that they'd be OK," James said.

Juergens was driving south on Highway 25 on a routine patrol when he swerved to avoid a vehicle that had stopped in front of him on rain-slickened pavement and crossed the centerline, striking an SUV driven by Martinez, James said.

"There was cars stopping in front of him. ... He was trying to avoid the car in front of him," he said.

Because it was an officer-involved crash, the sheriff's department turned the accident over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, James said.

Anytime an officer is involved in an accident, investigators try to determine whether drugs, alcohol or other factors -- such as distracted driving -- might have been at play, James said.

"If they did something wrong, we want to know," he said.

That did not appear to be the case with Juergens, who submitted to routine drug and breath tests as part of the crash investigation, James said.

He said weather was a primary factor in the crash, which the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported occurred about 2:45 p.m. Monday a little over a quarter-mile north of County Road 316.

The accident totaled the 2007 Chevrolet Impala that Juergens was driving and the 2009 Kia Borrego that Martinez was driving, the highway patrol reported.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri