One man killed, another injured in separate accidents Friday

A Carson City man was killed in an early morning accident between Pleasant Valley and Steamboat on Friday.

Benjamin Griffith, 22, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 1:19 a.m. single-vehicle wreck on Highway 395 at Andrew Lane.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, Griffith was northbound when his vehicle drifted onto the dirt shoulder and struck a power pole. Griffith's white Chevrolet sedan then rolled a number of times down an embankment and struck a cottonwood tree in a nearby pasture.

Griffith was wearing a seat belt, said Trooper Chuck Allen, but due to the severity of the wreck, he did not survive.

It's unknown if alcohol was a factor in the crash, Allen said.

Sierra Pacific Power was called to repair the power pole.

At 3:30 p.m., another Carson City man was injured as he crossed Carson Street west from Robinson Street.

According to Sgt. Mark Clark of the Nevada Highway Patrol, Robin Cobbey, 56, of Virginia City, was turning south from Robinson Street onto Carson Street in a Dodge Caravan when she struck Vincent Verdan, 84, of Carson City, in front of the Nugget Casino.

Cobbey told troopers the afternoon sun was blinding her when the accident happened.

The casino's exterior cameras captured the accident and a disc was turned over to investigators.

Clark said Verdan had "some bumps on his head," and an injury to his hand where it struck the van's grill.

He was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital, then taken by helicopter to Washoe Medical Center as a precaution.

Cobbey was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian.

- Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.