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Cloverdale power outage a factor in two-vehicle wreck
CLOVERDALE -- It was not only a cold and partly-snowy Halloween for the town of Cloverdale, but a dark one as well as the entire town was left without power for more than two hours Friday night due to unknown circumstances.
The loss of power throughout the town was said to have contributed to a two-vehicle accident, which occurred on U.S. 231 at the Interstate 70 exit 41 at 6:48 p.m.
According to Cloverdale Police Department Sgt. Charlie Hallam, Robert E. Ewert, 40, Plainfield, was stopped at the stoplight on U.S. 231 at the west off ramp of I-70 in a 2006 Ford Fusion.
As traffic stopped at the four-way intersection, Ewert attempted to proceed to make his turn southbound onto U.S. 231 when Jeffery L. Branneman, 50, Cloverdale, who was traveling northbound on U.S. 231 in a 1997 Jeep Wrangler, reportedly failed to stop at the intersection, which at the time did not have a working stop light.
"Everybody else was stopped at the four-way intersection," Hallam said. "He (Ewert) started to leave and the Jeep, who never did stop, hit him."
The failure to stop at the intersection, caused Branneman's right front bumper to collide with Ewert, causing extensive damage to his vehicle's front end.
No injuries were reported at the scene. However, the public is reminded that during a power outage all stoplights are to be treated as stop signs.
"As a reminder, when the power is out, stop lights are treated as a four-way stop or a stop sign," Hallam advised. "Everybody needs to use due caution and treat it as a stop sign."
Ewert's vehicle, which he had purchased just three days prior to the accident, had to be towed from the scene.
Damage was estimated at $5,001-$10,000.
Assisting at the scene was the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.
Power, meanwhile, was restored at 7:40 p.m. However, the cause of the two-hour outage has not yet been determined.