A Whitley County Detention Center work release inmate working on a road crew was hit by a car early Tuesday afternoon.
The accident happened about 1:22 p.m. on Highway 836, which is also known as Cripple Creek Road, near the junction of Highway 2985 under the interstate bridge.
The inmate, whose identity hasn’t been released yet, was hit by a green 1999 Chevy Cavalier and suffered right arm, right leg and side pain, according to the Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department.
The impact cracked the windshield of the vehicle.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Mike Witt, who is investigating the crash, said that the inmate’s head also apparently struck the windshield of the vehicle.
Whitley County EMS treated the victim at the scene and transported him to Baptist Regional Medical Center for treatment of apparent non-life threatening injuries.
“Any time you have a vehicle versus a pedestrian, it could be a very bad accident even considering speed not being a factor,” Witt said.
“A person versus a car, the car is always going to come out ahead of the situation. He was very lucky to not be in any worse condition than what he is.”
Witt said that the driver of the car, William Jones, 32, had just pulled onto Cripple Creek Road from Highway 2985, and had gone maybe 200 feet west when he struck the pedestrian.
“He was a state inmate on work release cleaning along the road. I think they were cleaning kudzu out on this part of the road,” Witt noted.
At the scene about an hour after the crash, Witt noted that he hadn’t yet talked with all the witnesses so he was not sure exactly what took place or if there were any contributing factors to the crash.
The only charges that he anticipated filing at the time were some minor traffic citations against Jones, such as no insurance.
