Pounding rain leads to wreck by old Red Dog
Torrential rain is being blamed for a crash on Nashville Highway which left a critically injured Watertown man trapped in his car for nearly an hour Saturday.
The victim, Juan Gonzalez, 20, was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center from River Park Hospital for treatment Saturday afternoon. Attempts to get a medical helicopter to the scene to airlift the victim were thwarted by the same blinding rainstorm which caused the wreck.
According to Highway Patrolman Darrell Gribble, the accident happened at the height of the severe thunderstorm around 4 p.m. Gonzalez, who was the single occupant in his car, was heading toward Centertown when his car hydroplaned as he entered a sharp curve located near what is commonly known as the site of the old Red Dog Saloon at Nashville Highway and Crisp Springs Road.
Gonzalez’s vehicle then slid sideways across the road, and through a front yard, slamming broadside into a tree, driver’s side first. Gonzalez was pinned inside the car for about an hour as rescue crews battled the heavy rain and used extrication tools to free him.