Cow blamed for Monday morning wreck

A moving cow is being blamed for a wreck on New Smithville Highway Monday morning which sent one man to the hospital.

The victim, Jewell Dean Vaughn, 73, was treated for noncritical head injuries at River Park Hospital after he was injured when the truck, driven by his son, Terry Vaughn, 43, ran off the road and crashed around 8 a.m. Monday.

According to accident investigators, Vaughn was traveling on Highway 56 North pulling a livestock trailer behind his 1982 Chevy pickup when the trailer unexpectedly detached from the truck. Lawmen suspect a cow which was being hauled in the trailer may have moved around, shifting the load and causing the coupling to come undone.

The sudden release of the trailer is what investigators believe caused Vaughn to lose control of his pickup, run off the highway and crash. The cow in the runaway hauler was not seriously injured.