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Sheriff's Department works holiday accidents

Deputies with the Butler County Sheriff’s Department investigated a pair of serious accidents over the past two weeks.  

Deputy Trey Flener responded to a single-car wreck involving a pedestrian on Threlkel Road on Christmas Day, December 25, at approximately 9:54 a.m.  Icy road conditions were a factor in the accident and apparently were the result of a water released out of a flushed valve at the top of the hill.   

According to witnesses, two vehicles had already slid off the road due to icy road conditions.  Betty Casey of Morgantown was a passenger in a vehicle that had gone off the roadway.  She was standing outside the vehicle waiting for help.  That’s when another vehicle, a 2006 Chevy Cobalt driven by Felicia Gaw of Roundhill, traveled over the crest of the hill and began to slide due to ice on the side of the roadway.  Casey was struck by the vehicle - forced on the hood of the car and then thrown off.  Gaw stated that she saw the vehicles off the roadway after coming over the hill and noticed the blocked road as other motorists had stopped and were attempting to help.  As Gaw tried to apply her brakes, her vehicle started to slide, hitting Casey.

Casey suffered serious injuries and was transported by Air Evac to Skyline Hospital.  Gaw’s vehicle suffered minor damage after striking an earth embankment.  

Butler County EMS also responded to the scene. 

Deputy Flener spoke to John Dicks, general foreman of the Butler County Water System, who stated that the valve had been turned on by their department the day before on December 24 due to complaints of “discolored water” in the area.  Dicks also stated, according to the police report, that “the water was possibly forced onto the roadway due to a stopped up tile or culvert.”

Butler County Water System subsequently shut off the valve and the county road department was notified of ice on the roadway. 

On December 18, a head-on collision on Reedyville Road (KY 185) led to the death of a two-year old child and serious injuries for others.  Sydney Crawford Dockery, who was pregnant, was traveling south in a 2005 Nissan Altima with passenger Kenzleigh Dockery, her daughter.  Kenzleigh Dockery was restrained in a car seat.   

According to the police report, Coti N. Stafford of Brownsville, who was driving a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee, “lost control of her vehicle and traveled into the southbound lane … and did not have time to apply her brakes before the collision.”  Wet road conditions due to rainfall may have been a factor in the accident. Stafford’s vehicle struck Dockery’s vehicle head-on.

Deputy Trey Flener, in his report, stated that all occupants of both vehicles were out of their vehicles and were receiving first aid by Butler County and Edmonton County EMS.  Also, Stafford’s vehicle was “fully engulfed in fire.”  

Both vehicles suffered severe damage.

Stafford and other occupants in her vehicle were transported to the Medical Center in Bowling Green, where they were treated and released.

Sydney Crawford Dockery was transported to the Medical Center in Bowling Green and then later taken to the University of Vanderbilt Hospital.  Kenzleigh Dockery, a passenger in the vehicle, died December 22 at Vanderbilt as a result of injuries sustained from the accident.  Dockery’s baby, who was a few weeks premature, was safely delivered.  Both Sydney Dockery and the baby - Karleigh Grace Dockery - are still in the hospital but are expected to be fine.

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