Somerset man still critical after Friday wreck

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Shawn Creech, who was driving this pickup truck Friday night when a one-vehicle accident occurred around 6 p.m. Friday, was still in critical condition Tuesday afternoon. Susan Wheeldon Photo

September 3, 2008

Alcohol a suspected factor in crash

By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Wed Sep 03, 2008, 07:15 AM EDT

A Somerset man remains in critical condition after he was involved in a one-vehicle accident last Friday.

According to a University of Tennessee Medical Center spokesperson Tuesday afternoon, Shawn Creech, 26, Somerset, remains in critical condition after he was flown to the hospital, following an accident Friday around 6 p.m.

According to Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Scott West, the accident occurred when Creech was driving a pickup truck northbound on Ky. 1675 when he lost control, crossing over the centerline, going into a fence row and traveling approximately 100 feet. At that point, West said, the truck came back into the southbound lane and the front end dug into the ground. The truck stopped as if it had been traveling southbound.

Creech was ejected from the vehicle.

Two passengers in the truck, Charles S. Bryant, 27, Somerset, and Anthony Ping, 29, Somerset, were trans-ported to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital by Somerset Fire/EMS.

Tuesday afternoon Susan Ramsey Wilson, director of community relations at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, said both Bryant and Ping were treated in the emergency room and was were not admitted to the hospital.

At the scene of the accident, West said the department would be investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the accident.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Pulaski County Sheriff Todd Wood said they are still looking into the possibility that alcohol was involved.

“We believe evidence at the scene indicates alcohol was a factor in the accident,” said Wood.

Wood, however, said they didn’t have results of toxicology reports yet.

He said since Creech was taken to a hospital out of state, records for the toxicology reports will have to be subpoenaed before the department will know the results of any blood test which was performed on Creech. Wood said he hopes the process will be a fairly quick one.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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