(KIWA Staff Photo - AI Enanced)Sanborn, Iowa– A Spencer woman was taken to the hospital after a crash near Sanborn on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
The O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office reports that at about 4:20 p.m., 35-year-old Benjamin Van Kekerix of Sheldon was driving a 2009 Peterbilt semi eastbound on Highway 18, two miles west of Sanborn. They tell us that 45-year-old Henry Nyorkor of Sioux Falls was also eastbound on 18 in a 2012 Freightliner straight truck owned by Lakes Logistics of Spirit Lake, and that 40-year-old Michaela Simmons of Spencer was also eastbound on 18 in a 2018 Volvo SUV.
The report says that Van Kekerix was making a left turn onto Olive Avenue. Simmons slowed to a stop behind it. Nyorkor ran into the back of Simmons’ Volvo and pushed it into the back of the Van Kekerix semi.
The Sanborn Ambulance took Simmons to Sanford Sheldon Hospital. The other drivers reported no injuries.
All three vehicles were considered totaled in the crash.
Nyorkor was charged with failure to reduce speed to reasonable and proper.
The sheriff’s office tells us another crash happened shortly thereafter at the same place as a result of the first crash. The Iowa State Patrol says a pickup driven by Joseph Brown of Sanborn and a car driven by Charlie Wambui of Sanborn collided. No injuries were reported in that crash. A total of $5500 in damage was done in the crash.
