Algona, Iowa — A Sutherland man was taken to the hospital after an accident in Algona on Friday, January 31, 2020, that police say very easily could have ended much worse for the victim.
The Algona Police Department reports that about 2:35 p.m., 38-year-old Joe McDonald of Sutherland was driving a 2008 Chevy pickup northbound on Highway 169 on the northwest side of Algona, about a half of a mile south of Highway 18.
Algona Police Chief Kendall Pals says McDonald was in the outside lane and the road curves to the left at that location. He says that according to witnesses, McDonald was traveling at a high rate of speed and missed the curve. He says the pickup continued straight into a park-like area, through some snow and into some landscaping, where it vaulted, turned sideways and hit a tree with left rear door. The chief says the pickup spun around the tree. He says according to their investigation, the passenger compartment at that point disengaged from the rest of the vehicle. He says the frame and box of the pickup wrapped around the tree in a vertical position. But he says the cab and driver continued for another 50 feet. Chief Pals tells us the engine and transmission were found separately, laying out in the snow.
The chief says that he himself was the first emergency responder on the scene, and when he got there the driver was out of the vehicle and was being attended to by citizens.
The Algona Ambulance took McDonald to Kossuth Regional Medical Center Hospital and later transported him to a Des Moines hospital. Pals said he called for a helicopter but was told that due to weather conditions at the time, they were not flying.
He says the Chevy pickup driven by McDonald was owned by his employer, American Bin Erectors of Tea, SD. It was totaled in the crash. The park-like area sustained an unknown amount of damage.
The chief says the Algona Fire Department also assisted at the scene.
