Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Carson City firefighters work on two accident victims on Deer Run Road on Thursday morning. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Two people were killed Thursday in a single-vehicle accident on Deer Run Road. The driver, who was unharmed, told investigators he swerved to avoid a dog.
According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, a 2004 Dodge Neon was southbound near Mallow Road about 10:30 a.m. when the driver, Billy Joe Thompson, 24, of Carson City, lost control and drove into the northbound dirt shoulder, narrowly missing a telephone pole.
When Thompson tried to regain control, the car went into a broadside skid, careened into a rock and cement pillar, which it toppled before landing on its hood.
The 19-year-old Carson City man in the front seat was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 20-year-old Carson City woman in the back seat survived the wreck, but succumbed to her injuries as paramedics prepared to load her onto a waiting helicopter.
The victims' names were being withheld pending notification of their families.
Peggy Kreck said she was inside her home at 1420 Deer Run Road when she heard "an explosion."
When she got outside, two construction workers from a house across the street were trying to help.
"The girl was talking to us. She knew both of her legs were broken," one of the workers said.
He shook his head in disbelief at the news she didn't survive.
"She was tough. Man, I thought she was going to be OK," he said sadly. "She was so strong. I thought for sure she'd make it."
With blankets Kreck gave them, the men covered the girl, who complained of the cold.
One of the men described standing in the path of the sunlight so it wouldn't beat down on her face.
Both men, who asked not to be named, admitted they weren't sure what to do but did what they could.
They said Thompson pulled himself from the wreckage and then tried to save his friends.
"He was saying 'Oh my God, oh my God,' and telling her to hold on, he'd get her out," one of the men recalled.
Neither man saw the accident, but they heard it.
"It sounded like a jet," one said.
Trooper Nick Nordyke said Thompson told investigators the trio was heading to his apartment on Pheasant Drive from Mound House when a dog darted into his path.
"He said he swerved to try to avoid hitting it and lost control," Nordyke recalled.
After being cleared by paramedics, Thompson, who suffered some bruising and scratches, sat calmly in the back of a patrol car for a short time, then stood with a woman as he answered investigators' questions.
Nordyke said Thompson claimed to be driving only about 30 mph on the 25-mph stretch of residential road.
"But he definitely wasn't doing the speed limit," Nordyke said.
Neighbor Don Drake said vehicles are always speeding on Deer Run Road.
"They come through here 45, 50 mph all the time!" he said angrily.
-- Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.