Back-to-back U.S. 95 collisions injure Sagle man

SAGLE — One Sagle man was seriously injured and a Priest River man suffered minor injuries Friday morning in a chain-reaction crash after a cargo box fell off a trailer on U.S. 95 south of Brisboys Road.

Idaho State Police said Matthew S. Blackstone was driving northbound in a Dodge Ram pickup truck, which was towing a dump trailer loaded with a large cargo box. The box came off the trailer and landed in the northbound lane.

Jason E. Bailey, a 49-year-old Sagle resident, was traveling behind Blackstone in a Lincoln Navigator sport utility vehicle and was able to stop and avoid striking the cargo box, state police said. Richard H. Eastman was following Bailey in a Jeep Cherokee and stopped directly behind him.

Eastman's Jeep was then rear-ended by a southbound vehicle driven by Veasy E. Glenn, a 56-year-old Priest River resident. State police said the collision forced Eastman's Jeep into the southbound lane of travel, where it was struck broadside by a Toyota Highlander SUV driven by Grant G. Brockus, 70, of Nordman.

Eastman's Jeep was struck on the driver's side and he was extricated from the compact SUV. Eastman, an 84-year-old Sagle resident was taken to Bonner General Health and airlifted to Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene. Glenn suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene, state police said.

The 9:48 a.m. collisions occurred in a two-lane section of highway north of Timberline Drive. The collisions blocked the highway for approximately two and a half hours.

State police said the crashes remain under investigation.