Published: July 03, 2008 10:27 am      

Crash injures three

Three people, including a McAlester resident and two people from Kansas were taken to hospitals following a two-vehicle accident on Wednesday evening west of the city.

Kevin Balluch, 18, of Quinter, Kan., was transported by ambulance to the McAlester Regional Health Center, then taken by medical helicopter to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. He was reported in stable condition with head, arm, and leg injuries, as well as external and internal trunk injuries, the highway patrol said.

A passenger in the Balluch vehicle, Gail Balluch, 53, of Quinter, Kan., was transported by ambulance to the McAlester hospital and was listed in stable condition with head, arm and leg injuries, as well as external and internal trunk injuries, according to the highway patrol.

Another passenger in the Balluch car, Trinity Balluch, 7, of Colorado Springs. Colo., was transported to MRHC, where she was treated for arm and head injuires and then released, the highway patrol said.

The driver of another car involved in the accident, Tabitha Fields-Wheat, was transported to the McAlester hospital with arm and head injuries, where she was treated and released, an OHP spokesman said.

The accident occurred at 5:21 p.m. 3.7 miles west of McAlester on U.S. Highway 270.

The highway patrol said Fields-Wheat was southbound in a 2006 Chevrolet on an Indian Nation Turnpike off-ramp and that Kevin Balluch was headed west in a 2001 Chevrolet on U.S. Highway 270.

The car driven by Fields-Wheat failed to yield from a stop sign and made a left turn and was struck by the Balluch car, according to the highway patrol.

OHP Trooper Sean Mass of Troop D headquarters in McAlester investigated the accident.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.