Two from Cape seriously injured in rollover accident; one arrested

Four people from Cape Girardeau were injured, two seriously, in a one-vehicle extrication accident early Saturday morning. Police said the car ran off a rural county road, overturned and slammed into a tree.

The four occupants of the mangled 2004 BMW were transported to an area hospital after the 1:45 a.m. crash sent one occupant through the windshield and required two others to be extricated.

Kaylie L. Vantroba, 21, and Lauren E. Timpe, 22, were listed in serious condition on the Missouri State Highway Patrol's online crash report late Saturday. James R. Flesher, 23, and Timothy Conrad, 21, sustained minor injuries in the wreck about five miles north of Cape Girardeau on County Road 651.

None was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.

The wreck drew emergency responses from two fire departments, several ambulances and the patrol. First responders saw that Timpe had gone through the windshield. Back-seat passengers Conrad and Vantroba were extricated.

Based on the condition of the BMW, the accident could have been much worse, said Dwayne Kirchhoff, chief of the East County Fire Protection District.

"All four of these people were very fortunate to have come out of this alive -- especially the young lady who was ejected," Kirchhoff said.

The cause of the crash was not made clear in a preliminary report filed by patrol investigator R.W. Eakins. But the report indicates Flesher was driving when the car veered off the right side of the northbound lane, jerked back onto the road and swerved off the other side. The car overturned and struck the tree.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department also responded to the scene just off Highway 177 near Egypt Mills, Kirchhoff said. The departments worked about 15 minutes with a hydraulic rescue tool commonly called the "Jaws of Life" to free Conrad and Vantroba.

The patrol arrested Flesher, although it had nothing to do with the accident. Flesher had a felony warrant from an August charge of receiving stolen property. He was being held Saturday evening at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $6,000 cash-only bond.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

County Road 651, Cape Girardeau County, MO