Teenagers Injured in Major Accident in Dayton VIDEO in QuickTime

DAYTON, December 1, 2006 - A major accident occurred on SH 321 at Old Cleveland Road in Dayton around 6:50 PM on Friday. Old Cleveland Road is just north of the overpass on SH 321 north of Dayton.

The accident occurred when a Silver Mustang pulled out from Old Cleveland road onto SH 321 directly in the path of a northbound Ford F 150 pickup. The vehicles collided in the roadway closing SH 321 to traffic for over an hour. Northbound traffic on SH 321 was detoured onto Old Cleveland Road to get around the wreckage in the roadway.

The driver of the Mustang was Karessa Lynn Keith, age 17 of Dayton and the driver of the Ford Pickup was Christopher Kevi Armstrong, age 16 of LaPorte, TX.

The driver of an 18-wheeler first arriving at the scene stated that he saw the headlights come together and then a small explosion as a fire erupted in the engine compartment of the Ford Mustang. A motorist retrieved a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

The Dayton Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene using the Jaws of Life to free the occupants of the Mustang from the wreckage of their vehicle.

The Highway 321 Volunteer Fire Department set up and manned a land zone for Life Flight in a nearby field behind Calhoun’s Convenience Store.

Liberty County EMS treated the driver and two female passengers in the Ford Mustang preparing them for flight. They were all three flown by Life Flight to Houston’s Hermann Hospital for treatment of numerous injuries. Two Life Flight Helicopters were used in transporting the injured.

The driver and male passenger in the Ford Pickup were not injured.

According to Investigating Dayton Police Officer, Chad Addington, any citations in this accident are a matter of the department’s continuing investigation.