July 31, 2008

Thursday morning at 4:22AM, an accident with injuries was called in that occurred on I-24 at 9 mile marker. Deputies arrived to find that a Fed Ex semi truck had collided with a Kubota M-9000 cab-over tractor.

The investigation revealed that both vehicles were westbound. The semi truck driver, stated that after coming over a small hillcrest, he saw the tractor which was also westbound. He swerved to the left to keep from hitting the tractor but clipped the left rear wheel of the tractor. The semi then ran off into the median losing both front wheels. The semi proceeded on across the eastbound lanes. The tractor came to rest on the embankment off the eastbound lanes. The two-trailers that were connected to the semi, came to rest across both eastbound lanes. The semi lost about 150 gallons of diesel fuel as a result of the crash.

The driver of the semi was identified as 46 year old Bradley Conkle of Rosiclaire, Illinois.

The tractor after the collision, came to rest on the westbound shoulder. It was being operated by a 16 year old juvenile from Southern Illinois.

The juvenile was transported to an area hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Conkle was not injured.

While investigating the accident, sheriff's deputies determined that the tractor had been stolen from API Contractors of 2950 Little Cypress Road in Marshall County which is near Possum Trot. It was determined that the tractor had been stolen just an hour or so prior to the collision. Deputies also determined that the 16 year old juvenile was wanted out of Cairo Illinois for an alleged home invasion.

Once the juvenile is released from the hospital, he will be charged with Receiving Stolen Property, and also held on the Illinois charges stemming from the home invasion.

Sheriff's deputies were assisted at the scene by: Paducah Police Department, Mercy Regional EMS, Reidland Farley Fire Department, Kentucky Highway Department, as well as EPA officials who dealt with the contamination due to the diesel fuel spill. The Marshall County Sheriff's Department is also assisting in the stolen tractor portion of the investigation.

The eastbound lanes of I-24 was closed for about 3 hours along with one westbound lane. One lane in each direction is still closed as of 9:40AM.

The accident was investigated by Sgt. Brad Wallace.