For the second time in a month, there has been an accident in the area involving a person falling out of a pickup truck and getting run over afterward.
Last week’s incident happened between Piedmont and Severy, according to the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Heath Samuels says Morgan Merritt Thomas, 19, of Stockton, Missouri, was a passenger in a pickup traveling on US Highway 400 at around 10:30 pm last Thursday when he fell out near Road F. Thomas was airlifted to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita for treatment. The hospital’s media relations department says Thomas is no longer listed as a patient.
The driver, 18-year-old Dakota Lee Schrock, and the passenger, 19-year-old Daryin Noah Sharp, hometowns not listed, were both arrested on suspicion of alcohol-related crimes — Schrock for DUI, Sharp for possession of alcohol by a minor. An unnamed passenger was also cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol.
The estimated speed at the time of the incident has not been released.
On July 9, 20-year-old Hayden Miller of Emporia was killed when he tried to climb out of a moving pickup, fell out near West Sixth and Lantern Lane and was run over. Police say Miller’s death was an accident and no charges will be filed as a result.
