Photo by Ellen Mortensen
    A two vehicle accident on State Highway 2 near Berwyn the afternoon of Dec. 24, sent one person to the hospital and totaled both vehicles. This was one of three accidents in the area on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief managing editor

    The Custer County Sheriff’s Office was kept busy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with a number of accidents, ranging from minor fender-benders to major collisions.
  
   

 A two vehicle accident Dec. 24 on State Highway 2 one mile west of Berwyn shut down both lanes of traffic for several minutes, before the westbound lane was opened back up to through traffic. Anthony Dennis, 29 of Berwyn, was eastbound on the highway in his 1990 Oldsmobile when he fell asleep and struck a vehicle pulled off the road for a flat tire.
    Joe Crooker of Mullen had pulled his 1989 Ford on to the shoulder of the highway to check to see if he had a flat tire. Crooker stated he looked up and say Dennis’ car coming towards him, so he ran into the ditch just prior to his vehicle being hit.
    A passenger in Crooker’s car, Iva Polanco, was transported by Broken Bow ambulance to Jennie M. Melham Medical Center in Broken Bow for treatment of head and neck injuries. Damage to the Dennis vehicle was estimated at $4,500, while the Crooker car was  totaled.
    Snow making its way through the area Christmas Day made for pretty scenery, but not-so-pretty roads. Two Christmas Day accidents are blamed on the snowfall.
    A single vehicle accident on State Highway 92 involved a 54-year-old Neligh woman. Loretta Juracek was westbound on Highway 92, when she passed a snowplow going the same direction. When she tried to pull back in front of the snow plow, she hit a pile of snow in the center of the highway and lost control of her 1994 Chevrolet Blazer.
    Juracek ran off the road to her left entering the south ditch and rolled once, landing on its wheels. She was transported to Jennie M. Melham Medical Center by Merna Ambulance.
    Bradley Schlueter, 41 of Wood Lake, was also the victim of a Christmas Day accident on State Highway 2, eight and one-half miles west of Anselmo. Schlueter was eastbound when he stated he got his right wheels caught in deep snow on the edge of the roadway.
    The 1997 Dodge ran off the road into the south ditch and struck a tree, uprooting it under the vehicle. Schlueter was not injured; damage to his vehicle was estimated at $8,000.
    Word was also recieved of a Christmas Day accident outside the area, involving a former Broken Bow school superintendent and long-time resident of the community.
    According to a press release from the Associated Press, 72-year-old Donald Vanderheiden, now of Johnson Lake, was southbound on U.S. Highway 83 in a Ford pickup when he collided with an eastbound Buick driven by 78-year-old Lawrence Greenwood of North Platte.
    North Platte Fire Department Lieutenant Jason Trimble says Greenwood was taken to a hospital but died there. A passenger in Vanderheiden's truck also was taken to a hospital for treatment. Vanderheiden was not treated for any injuries.
    North Platte Police Sergeant Steve Reeves says snow hadn't yet started to fall when the accident occurred so the roadway was dry. He says the accident remains under investigation.