SUV hits light pole, rolls onto side on Cape Girardeau street

Police shut down part of North Main Street after a sport utility vehicle overturned Monday afternoon just south of Isle Casino Cape Girardeau.

The driver told police she was reaching for her phone when she apparently looked away from the road and struck the pole, said Sgt. Rick Schmidt of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"That's what she told me, and then -- bang! -- here we are," Schmidt said.

Cape Girardeau first responders work the scene of a rollover accident on North Main Street on Monday afternoon. The SUV hit a light pole and rolled over. The driver was the only occupant of the vehicle. (Laura Simon)

The brown Hyundai SUV flipped onto its left side. Firefighters used axes to break out the windshield and free the driver from the vehicle.

The driver, whose name was not immediately available, was alert and talking to emergency workers as she sat up on a gurney. Aside from an abrasion on her arm, she had no obvious injuries.

Cape Girardeau firefighters respond to the scene of an SUV that rolled over on North Main Street on Monday. (Laura Simon)

"She has expressed an interest in refusing all medical treatment," Schmidt said.

The light pole had a large dent near the bottom and was leaning slightly.

The accident occurred in the 500 block of North Main Street. Police blocked Main Street from the 400 block to its intersection with Spanish Street while emergency workers freed the driver and cleared the scene.

Schmidt did not know how fast the vehicle was going when it struck the pole, but he said even at a relatively low speed, it could overturn fairly easily.

No one was in the SUV except the driver, and no other vehicles were involved in the accident, Schmidt said.

Police chief Wes Blair was at the scene.

Judging from the lack of skid marks leading up to the light pole, he said the driver likely did not have time to brake before she struck the pole.

"She probably didn't even see the pole until she hit it," Blair said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

500 block of North Main Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.