Tuesday morning at approximately 8:20, the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office and Leitchfield Police and Fire Departments responded to the 102 mile marker of eastbound Western Kentucky Parkway on the report of a semi-truck accident.
Upon arriving at the scene, Sheriff Norman Chaffins, Chief Deputy Jarrod Mudd, Lt. Sonny Poteet, and Sgt. Clay Boone found that a tractor trailer, being driven by 25-year-old Nathanial Martin, of Cottage Grove, Tennessee, had left the roadway, struck a guardrail and then an embankment. Martin was uninjured.
Martin, who told police he fell asleep at the wheel, was reported by motorists to be swerving all over the roadway just prior to the accident, and did not leave any brake marks. The vehicle, as it left the road, took out 180 feet of guardrail and traveled another 80 feet before coming to a stop on top of the embankment it struck.
The truck was carrying 54 cattle, with about 10 bovines escaping the truck’s trailer and roaming on and near the parkway.
Sheriff Norman Chaffins asked local farmers and cattlemen come to the parkway and help corral the cattle, with several volunteers arriving at the scene (with 4-wheelers in tow). A veterinarian was also summoned to the accident.
The eastbound parkway was closed at Caneyville from about 11:00 until 2:30 as the cattle were corralled and the semi-truck was removed from the scene.
LPD Chief Bryan Langdon and Sgt. Brandon Cook assisted at the scene. The Caneyville Fire and Police Departments set up a detour at the Caneyville exit, re-routing motorists off the parkway and to Leitchfield.
Leitchfield Fire Chief Tim Duvall suffered several cuts to his right forearm when a bull made a run at him just after Duvall’s arrival. Duvall said he had just checked on the condition of the driver when he looked up and saw the bull coming toward him. He was momentarily pinned against the top of the truck’s trailer before the bull followed other cows that were exiting the back of the trailer.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
