Highway Patrol trooper hurt in three-vehicle accident

A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper underwent minor surgery Monday after an early morning three-vehicle accident on Highway 74, one mile west of Interstate 55.

Jeremy Weadon broke his arm in the accident, which also involved two other people, including Elaine Henderson of Delta, who suffered minor injuries and was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital.

According to the patrol's accident report, the accident took place at about 7:45 a.m., when Matthew A. Hinkle's 2005 Dodge Dakota crossed the center line and struck Henderson's 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The collision caused Henderson's car to rotate across the centerline into the path of Weadon's highway patrol car, the report said. Hinkle, 19, of Cape Girardeau was not injured in the accident.

"Accidents like these, that involve a patrol officer, they don't happen that often," said Sgt. Dale Moreland, a patrol spokesman for Troop E in Poplar Bluff.

Weadon joined the highway patrol in 2000.

Moreland said Weadon suffered only moderate injuries and that he had surgery at Southeast Missouri Hospital, but he would not share other details. By late afternoon, Weadon was "out of surgery and doing fine."

A call to Weadon's hospital room was answered by his brother, Joe, who is also a highway patrolman. Joe Weadon said Jeremy Weadon was asleep and would be in the hospital overnight and released today. Joe Weadon said his brother would probably miss "a couple of months" of work.

No charges had been filed Monday and Moreland said none were immediately pending. Weadon, who lives in Marble Hill, Mo., patrols in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137