Kansas toddler injured in two-vehicle accident

By Becky Uehling

Grant Tribune-Sentinel

A toddler from Kansas suffered a broken leg in a two-vehicle accident last week on South Hwy. 61. 

According to the Perkins County Sheriff’s Office, the accident occurred at 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13 at the intersection of Hwy. 61 and Road 759. At this time Tyler Popelier of Omaha was driving north bound in a semi tractor trailer with an attached flatbed trailer loaded with empty fertilizer tanks. The semi belonged to Kasey Kroeker of Grant. 

According to the accident report, as Popelier approached Road 759, he began to turn east, maneuvering into the southbound lane. At that time, Michael McCoy from Cunningham, Kansas, who was also driving northbound in a 2002 Mazda Cab Plus pickup, failed to slow down as Popelier made his maneuver. McCoy braked and veered to the right upon noticing Popelier’s maneuver. McCoy ended up impacting the right side of the semi with both vehicles going into the ditch and coming to a rest. 

According to the PCSO report, Popelier was uninjured in the accident, but McCoy suffered a possible head injury. Two juveniles were also in the pickup, including a seven-year-old, who was in the backseat and not wearing a seatbelt. The seven-year-old was able to crawl out of the wrecked vehicle. The other child, a two-year-old, who was in a car seat in the front of the cab, suffered a broken leg, most likely from the impact of the air bag that deployed during the accident, according to PCSO.

Responding to the scene were the Grant Volunteer Fire Department, PCSO and the State Patrol. All three McCoys were transported to the Perkins County Hospital, with the toddler later being airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Colorado, according to PSCO. McCoy was cited for driving during revocation or impoundment—4th or subsequent offense and failure to use child passenger restraints.