Overland Park Police say an adult male sustained serious injuries when he was ejected from his vehicle after he crashed into a utility pole on Switzer Road at 131st Street on Monday evening.
Police, firefighters, and paramedics were called to the intersection near the campus of Blue Valley Northwest High School just after 6:30 p.m. Monday on reports of a single-vehicle crash.
The crash into the utility pole came after two vehicles collided a few blocks north on Switzer Road, according to police.
“A black Ford Mustang was driving at a high rate of speed when it struck a Jeep at West 127th Street and Switzer Road,” Officer John Lacy, a spokesperson for Overland Park Police, said in an emailed response to questions. “The Ford vehicle fled the scene.”
That Ford Mustang, moments later, slammed into the utility pole at 131st.
The driver of the Jeep stayed on the scene back at 127th and called police. No one in the Jeep was injured.
Lacy says that damage to the car from the first crash caused the Mustang driver to lose control and strike the power pole at 131st and Switzer.
“The adult male driver was ejected and transported to Overland Park Regional with serious injuries,” Lacy said. “At this time, it is unknown if alcohol or drugs played an issue in this.”
The crash scattered debris across the intersection, including throwing the Mustang’s battery across all lanes of Switzer.
Several witnesses stopped at the scene and attempted to help the injured man.
One of those witnesses says she was driving north on Switzer as the Mustang drove south. Her SUV was hit by small pieces of debris from the crash but was undamaged.
What happened after utility pole crash
Police closed Switzer Road from 129th to 132nd as officers from the traffic safety unit conducted their on-scene investigation. Switzer reopened just before 10 p.m. Monday.
No other vehicles were damaged in the second crash, and no one else was injured.
The Overland Park Police Department’s Traffic Safety Unit continues to investigate.
