Published: April 29, 2008 11:15 am            

Jeffersonville crash fatality victim identified

The Jeffersonville Police Department identified a woman that was killed in a four-car collision at East 10th Street and Springdale Drive on Thursday as Nora Croxton, 84.

Croxton was traveling north on Plank Road from Springdale when her Toyota Corolla was struck by a Cadillac Escalade headed eastbound on 10th Street at about 7:30 a.m.

The initial investigation by police determined that the driver of the Cadillac Escalade, Hammdi Hanbali, 23, was headed eastbound on 10th Street when he ran a red light and struck Clifford Hypes, who was turning left from Springdale Drive onto 10th Street.

Hanbali’s vehicle then spun around and was again struck by Hypes’ Honda Civic. Hanbali’s vehicle then deflected off of Hypes’ vehicle, striking Croxton’s vehicle in the driver’s side door, pushing her vehicle into another car stopped at the light headed westbound on 10th Street, and then into a culvert.

Patricia Kitehannon, a witness on the scene, told police the traffic light for Springdale and Plank Road traffic had a green light and East 10th Street had a red light. She said she saw Hanbali’s vehicle, at what appeared to be a high-rate of speed, disregard the red light and enter the intersection.

Croxton was taken to University Hospital in Louisville and was pronounced dead later that afternoon. Hypes was taken to Clark Memorial Hospital and was later released.

Officer Todd Wilson was the first on the scene; he had just stopped a vehicle for speeding on 10th Street not far from where the accident and occurred and heard it happen, said Officer Todd Hollis, who also was called to the scene.

“It’s a rush hour time of day, so traffic is heavy,” Hollis said. “Tenth Street is the most traveled street in the city — there are more cars on that street than any other in the city, so by sheer numbers it’s going to be more prone to accidents.”



Driver arrested in I-64 crash

A weekend traffic accident on Interstate 64 that left two people hospitalized has led to charges being filed against Rhonda S. Branham, 40, of Floyds Knobs.

According to a police report filed by the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department, Branham crashed her Chevy TrailBlazer into a Plymouth Neon that was stopped in the roadway just off the Greenville exit ramp near the 119 mile-marker, at 4:50 a.m. Sunday.

Members of the Floyd County Prosecutor’s Office Combined Accident Reconstruction Team were called to the scene because of the severity of the crash, as responding officials found one of the occupants of the Neon partially ejected and unconscious.

The Neon was stopped with a flat tire when it was struck by the TrailBlazer. The driver of the Neon, Joseph McConnell of New Salisbury, and an unidentified passenger were transported by helicopter to the University Hospital in Louisville with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Branham was uninjured, but later failed a chemical breath test at the sheriff’s department.

She has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated at .15 percent blood-alcohol level or more, with endangerment causing serious bodily injury.

Branham was being held in the Floyd County Jail without bond pending her preliminary court appearance. Results of drug and alcohol tests on McConnell, as required by state law, are pending.

— Staff Writer Daniel Suddeath

        

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