By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – The driver of a Jeep that ended flipped over on its roof was given a citation for being responsible for a collision at the intersection of U.S. Highway 70 and 20th Avenue early Wednesday evening.
Officers were dispatched to the intersection at about 6:21 p.m. regarding a two-vehicle collision and discovered a gray Jeep SUV had rolled over onto its top. A white Nissan four-door sedan was also located in the area with heavy front-end damage.
The driver of the Jeep, Randy Escobedo, 52, told officers that he was westbound and attempted to turn southbound onto 20th Avenue when he was T-boned by the eastbound car. The Nissan struck the SUV’s rear passenger door, causing it to flip over on its top and block the southbound lanes. Escobedo said he had small cuts from shattered glass but was otherwise uninjured.
Nutcracker Towing removes vehicles from a collision at U.S. Highway 70 and 20th Avenue on Wednesday. There were no reported injuries.
The Nissan’s airbags had deployed and its driver, Randy Coons, 65, was also not injured. Police cordoned off the intersection and roadway for a short time for the vehicles to be cleaned up and traffic was diverted.
A witness that was stopped at the intersection facing north advised that Escobedo’s turn arrow had turned red just as Escobedo attempted to make his left turn. While Escobedo said he saw the Nissan and attempted to hurry and get out of the way, the witness said it appeared that the Nissan had the right-of-way.
Escobedo was then given a citation for failure to yield while turning left at the intersection. Nutcracker Towing cleaned up the scene and removed the vehicles.
