Three accidents lead to four injuries, one arrest over Labor Day weekend

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Four area residents were injured in three separate accidents in Butler, Ripley and Stoddard counties at the beginning of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

A Poplar Bluff resident is charged with vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident following one crash, which involved a moped.

Kacey D. Walker, 23, was arrested at 2:48 a.m. Saturday, two hours after an accident that seriously injured the driver and passenger of another vehicle on Highway 67, two miles south of Route PP.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported Walker faces felony charges of second-degree vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident. She also was arrested on suspicion of careless and imprudent driving and failure to register a motor vehicle.

The accident occurred shortly before 1 a.m., when Walker's northbound 2003 Nissan Murano allegedly struck the rear of a northbound 2013 Taotao moped.

The driver, William M. Freeman, 30, and his passenger, Heather M. Pace, 31, both of Poplar Bluff, were taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.

Walker's vehicle had extensive damage and the moped was totaled, according to the patrol report.

A Doniphan, Missouri, woman also was seriously injured around 6 p.m. Friday on Highway 142, one mile south of Doniphan.

Nickie J. Hopkins, 39, was eastbound in a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado when her vehicle ran off the right side of the roadway and became airborne. The vehicle came to rest in a field.

Hopkins was taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.

A Puxico, Missouri, man was also taken by ambulance to the hospital after his motorcycle struck a deer at 9 p.m. Friday.

Troopers reported Joseph E. Hays, 36, was southbound on Highway 51, two miles south of Puxico, on a 2005 Honda motorcycle when the crash occurred. Hays had moderate injuries.