Post Falls woman injured in crash

A 50-year-old Post Falls woman was injured Friday when the pickup truck she was driving left the road and rolled 400 feet down a hillside in Bonner County near Clark Fork, the Idaho State Police said.

The woman, Sandra L. Thompson, was taken to Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint and then transferred in critical but stable condition to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. She was in the intensive care unit there Saturday.

State police said U.S. Forest Service officers were on patrol in the 6000 block of Johnson Creek Road when they noticed tire tracks leaving the roadway, and debris. They got out of their vehicle to investigate and heard Thompson screaming, police said.

Clark Fork Fire personnel were called and were able to rescue Thompson, state police said. The crash was reported just before 10 p.m.

Thompson told officers she believes the crash occurred about 6:30 p.m. She said she was headed west on the forest road when she swerved to avoid an animal.

It was unclear if Thompson was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, police said. The pickup truck was too badly damaged to determine a make or model and authorities said recovering the pickup would be an extensive effort.