Crash downs power

— A car accident on Grant Street knocked out power on the west side of Decatur for several hours Sunday night.

David Boyt, 29, of Springdale, drove a 1995 Nissan Maxima into an Empire District utility pole about 5:15 p.m., Sunday, according to Decatur police. The utility pole was split in half by the impact and fell into another electric pole, knocking it down as well.

Boyt told police that he was traveling about 35 miles per hour and hit the pole because he swerved to miss a deer, but witnesses estimated he was going 80 to 90 miles per hour, police chief Terry Luker said.

Boyt was transported by ambulance to the Siloam Springs Regional Hospital.

Police do not suspect that alcohol or other intoxicants were involved. The accident is still under investigation and charges are pending, Luker said.

Sheila Verser was sitting on her front porch and watched the accident unfold. She said Boyt passed another vehicle at a high rate of speed as he was coming down Grant Street and then “took off like a bullet” before losing control and hitting the power poles.

Verser said the explosions from the falling electrical lines shook the ground and lit up the area with big blue flashes as the electricity arced between the lines.

“It scared the life out of me,” she said.

Electricity wasn’t restored to the area until around 11 p.m., and it tookeven longer to restore Cox Cable services, according to Verser and other neighborhood residents.

The power outage also affected Decatur’s wastewater treatment plant; butthe plant’s new generator, which was installed last week, kicked on and worked exactly as it was supposed to, according to city administrative assistant Kim Beggs.

News, Pages 1 on 09/19/2012