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Visitor injured in car accident
U.S. 160 closed near Mesa Verde National Park
Herald Staff Writer
Minton's 2000 Ford pickup collided head-on with a 2006 Ford Explorer driven by 44-year-old Joey J. Sloan of Bixby, Okla.
The accident took place on U.S. Highway 160 near the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. James M. Minton Jr., 50, of Greenwood, Ark., was headed toward Durango when he drove off the road and then overcorrected into the oncoming westbound lane, Trooper Doug Wiersma, a public information officer with the Colorado State Patrol, said in a news release.
Minton's 2000 Ford pickup collided head-on with a 2006 Ford Explorer driven by 44-year-old Joey J. Sloan of Bixby, Okla. Wiersma said Minton was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the rear window of his truck upon impact. The Arkansas man suffered serious injuries, he said.
The Explorer rolled one time, causing what Wiersma said were moderate injuries to Sloan and his passenger, Misty J. Sloan, 36. The Sloans were both wearing seat belts.
Minton was taken by ambulance to Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez.
Charges are pending because the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, but Wiersma said another driver had reported that Minton was driving erratically just before the accident.
Highway 160 was closed to traffic in both directions for about an hour and a half during the investigation and cleanup.
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