He went to UK Hospital, critically injured in a bad wreck on New Circle. Now, Lexington Police say David Cavaliere has been released. But two other people, hurt in Tuesday’s accident that backed up traffic on New Circle for hours, are still recovering at UK.
One of them – Ines Badinga is the woman at the center of the crash at Leestown Road. Police say Badinga was speeding and swerving when she hit the median, went airborne and struck a car, then a semi in mid-air.
http://liarcatchers.com/accident_reconstruction.html
Just before 2 p.m., traffic slows Mark Newton’s trip home. Smoke pouring from a car catches his eye – his camera would get the rest.
His picture shows a group of people gathered around the woman they pulled from her burning car, part of a three-vehicle wreck that would eventually bring everything to halt on New Circle near Leestown.
“My husband was coming home from Paris and said downtown was crowded because everyone had come off New Circle trying to cut through town, so it took him about an hour longer than it should have to get home,” said Sarah Weilen.
Weilen’s son was stuck in it, too, but on a bus coming from school.
“None of them had been dropped off and he got home about an hour and 10 minutes late,” she said.
The road would be closed for hours while police, and the Commonwealth’s attorney, investigated why Badinga lost control of her car. Witnesses described her swerving and speeding, then hitting the median that sent her car airborne and into a silver car, then a semi, before landing on the roof.
“To be hit, in the air, by a semi, and so far, she’s got the least injuries out of the two cars, so good thing she had the seat belt and the airbags,” said Lexington Police Lt. Chris Van Brackel.
While the truck driver wasn’t hurt, the two men in the other car were. Once said to be in critical condition, Erik Spurling is now stable, and the driver, Cavaliere, is out of the hospital.
“You’ve got to keep in perspective, you know,” Weilen said about being stuck in the afternoon traffic. “Somebody loves those people in the wreck, so you would want them to be patient if it was your loved ones.”
Police say the Commonwealth’s attorney was on scene to help police reconstruct the accident and determine whether charges should be filed.
Police didn’t say what caused Badinga to crash, only that she wasn’t driving impaired. If you saw the collision and think you can help police, give them a call.
