Driver Falls Asleep; Passenger Hurt in Crash

It appears that a drowsy driver is the cause for a single vehicle crash west of Salina that hospitalized a woman.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan tells KSAL News that 34-year-old Kristina Costello, Abilene, was sent by EMS to Salina Regional Health Center after she was involved in a vehicle crash at 11 a.m. Saturday.

A 2015 Chevy Colorado pickup was traveling eastbound on K-140 Highway, when it went off the roadway. The driver, 45-year-old Gary Erickson, Salina, is believed to have fallen asleep while at the wheel. The truck veered over the center line, continued off the roadway and in to a ditch before crashing in to a drainage area; causing the airbags to deploy.

Erickson had cuts to his arm and face from the crash but did not need hospitalization. However, Costello–who was the passenger in the truck–was sent to the hospital with back pain.

The impact of the crash caused the cargo in the bed, including a red jet ski, to fall out. The truck also had damage to its undercarriage and was towed away.

The crash happened on K-140 Highway, three-tenths of a mile east of the intersection with Powers Rd.–one mile west of the community of Bavaria or about nine miles west of Salina.