Alleged hit-and-run driver causes accident on Highway 50

A three-vehicle accident at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Fairview Drive and Highway 50 East closed a section of Fairview after the allegedly intoxicated driver rear-ended a truck and immediately tried to flee the scene, according to witnesses.

Allegedly attempting a hit-and-run, the driver of a red Ford Probe, heading north on Fairview, pulled around a Chevy truck, which sustained minor damage, and skirted across Highway 50 on a red light, according to witnesses.

The driver, an unidentified male, was then involved in a broadside accident with a gold Ford sedan traveling west on Highway 50.

The driver of the Probe was extracted from the vehicle by paramedics from Carson City Fire Department and eventually taken by Care Flight helicopter to a Reno hospital, a Carson sheriff's deputy said.

The driver of the Ford sedan sustained cuts and bruises and was taken by ambulance to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center for treatment and monitoring, a deputy said.

The driver of the Chevy truck was unhurt. Neither of the vehicles had human passengers, although the driver of the Ford sedan was accompanied by three dogs.

"That's the first thing I heard was the howl and yelping of the dogs," said Dayton resident Jeremy Dillie, who was driving southbound on Fairview and saw the collision.

"We saw this guy rear-end the Chevy truck across the intersection at the light," Dillie said. "Then he just gunned it and tried to make it across the intersection.

"Then, wham, this guy coming across 50 had a green light and couldn't stop. Both cars were lifted off the ground, it was just incredible."

Dillie and his brother, Jayce, were driving a delivery truck and immediately got out to see if the driver of the sedan was OK.

"The guy in the Probe looked pretty messed up," said Carson resident Adam Gordon, who was getting gas at the 7-Eleven on the corner of Fairview and Highway 50 when he witnessed the accident.

"It was just an explosion. The driver of the Probe really made a bad decision trying to cross that intersection."

The Carson City Sheriff's Department turned the accident investigation over to The Nevada Highway Patrol at the scene.

Deputy Doug Speegle confirmed that both drivers were sent to the hospital, but could not report on their condition or whether the driver of the Probe was intoxicated, as many eyewitnesses suggested.

"I'm sure the investigation will be ongoing," he said.

• Contact reporter Andrew Pridgen at apridgen@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.