UPDATE: State Patrol reports 11 fatalities in 5 days
By: Camila Orti
UPDATE: Fatal accident victim has been identified as 57-year-old Lincoln man, Douglas Dalke.
The driver of the Chevy Prism is 26-year-old Everett Hoesing of Olathe, Kansas.
Hoesing has been arrested for driving under the influence and faces Felony Motor Vehicle Homicide charges.
State troopers and sheriff’s deputies are concerned about the unusually high spike in fatalities the last several days. They are reporting 11 deaths since Thursday morning; three each in Douglas and Lancaster counties, four in Cass and one in Gage.
The most recent fatality happened around 6 p.m. after a bicyclist was hit by a car near 54th and Saltillo Road. Lancaster County Sheriff’s officials say the victim got rear-ended.
“The bicyclist signaled with his hand signal to turn south onto South 54th, where he was struck by the Chevy Prism” Capt. Ben Houchin with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said.
This comes after a deadly five days on Southeast Nebraska roads.
“It’s one of the worst weeks that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Neb. State Patrol Capt. Lance Rogers said.
Last Thursday, a man was killed near Denton after being hit head-on by a driver passing in a no passing zone.
Sunday morning, a man died near Raymond after a driver rear-ended the car he was in. Two others were air-lifted to the hospital.
Later that day, a crash near Elmwood killed two people, one of them was 22-year-old Emily Widger of Lincoln.
Plus, there were a few fatalities in the Omaha area over the weekend. State troopers say that’s a total of 11 crash-related deaths in the state since Thursday morning.
“Anytime we see numbers like that, it’s a bad week,” Rogers said.
In response, additional troopers are being stationed in some of the crash-heavy areas.
It’s important to note, statewide- the number of fatal crashes is about the same as it was at this point last year. However, if you look at southeastern Nebraska, that number is ten fatalities higher than this time last year.
