String of deadly accidents plague area

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 8, 2003

A rash of deadly accidents the past few days left four people dead and several seriously injured.

On Monday, at 8:43 a.m., a dump truck owned by Southern Sand and Gravel collided with a car driven by Greenville resident Thelma Gafford at the intersection of the Greenville Bypass and Airport Road/North Conecuh Street.

County Coroner Richard Hornsby pronounced Gafford dead on the scene.

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The truck driver, Michael Stuckey, wasn’t seriously injured in the accident, rescue officials at the scene said.

On Sunday, at 8:40 a.m., Lowndesboro residents Judy Luckie Berberich, 61; James L. Luckie, 85 and Cumie Luckie, 80, were critically injured in a three-car accident at the intersection of Cobbs-Ford Road and Highway 6 in Prattville.

Berberich was driving a Dodge truck.

Lon Grant McCormick of Madison, Ala., who was driving a 1998 Ford Expedition, ran a red light and struck Berberich’s car as she entered the intersection.

Berberich and James were airlifted to the University of Birmingham Medical Center, where James died in surgery. Berberich remains in critical condition in the hospital’s trauma unit.

McCormick’s vehicle also struck another vehicle, which suffered minimal damage.

The accident is currently under investigation, and no charges have been filed, said Prattville Police Department officials.

At 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, another deadly collision on Interstate 65, just north of the north Greenville exit claimed the lives of Montgomery residents Frank Ellis Johnson, 56, and Pat Harrison Johnson Sr., 84, in a single-car accident. Passengers Leslie Johnson, Frank Johnson Jr., Troy Johnson and Ivana Johnson also were injured in the accident.

Frank Ellis Johnson, apparently lost control of the Chevrolet van he was driving.