Two people were taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center with serious injuries after a head-on crash during the evening commute Monday on U.S. Highway 160 in west Durango.
The crash occurred at 5:04 p.m. when a black Mustang headed eastbound crossed into the westbound lane of traffic and struck a Toyota Tacoma head-on, said Cmdr. Ray Shupe with the Durango Police Department.
The driver of the Mustang, Anthony Giovanni Behmardi, 27, of Plano, Texas, had to be extracted from the car and was taken to Mercy with serious injuries. A passenger in the Tacoma, Robert Okun, 42, of Durango was also taken to Mercy with serious injuries, Shupe said. The driver of the Tacoma, Daisy Dickson, 35, of Durango was walking around and able to speak with police, he said.
Police suspect the driver of the Mustang may have consumed alcohol, Shupe said.
“We’re doing a DUI investigation at this point,” he said.
Alcohol suspected in head-on crash in west Durango
The crash occurred in front of the Wapiti Lodge at 21625 U.S. Highway 160, a busy corridor near western city limits. The highway was completely closed for about 15 minutes before reopening with one lane of travel in each direction.
“It was mess there for a while at that 160/550 exchange,” Shupe said. “... There’s quite a bit of oil on the road. We’ve got a street sweeper heading over there to clean it up, but motorcycles should probably use caution going through there.”
shane@durangoherald.com
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