(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were recently injured in separate accidents. Last Wednesday (May 7th) at around 5-p.m., 77-year-old Gerald Dean Christensen, of Panora, suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries, when the motorcycle he was riding failed to negotiate a left-hand curve on a slight slope while traveling in the 2500 block of Wagon Road. The 1997 Honda Valkyrie left the road to the right, and struck a cable barrier before knocking-over a few cable barrier poles. The cycle then went airborne and overturned. Christensen was ejected from the machine. Both came to rest outside of the cable barrier, in the ditch.

Christensen suffered significant injuries and was transported by Panora EMS to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. The Sheriff’s Office says two witnesses to the accident are to be commended for rendering aid to Gerald Christensen. Both are from Stuart. They were identified as Matthew Litwiller, and Tammy Richardson. The motorcycle was totaled in the crash, with damage estimated at $6,500.

The other accident happened at around 4:45-a.m. Saturday, on Highway 44 in Guthrie County. Authorities say 23-year-old Wyatt Clinton Hall, of Panora, was driving a 2003 Lincoln Towncar northbound on Andrews Terrace, when the car went off the road and onto the right shoulder. The vehicle came back onto the roadway before going out of control and crossing into a yard, where it struck a tree. Hall was transported by Panora EMS to the Guthrie County Hospital for treatment of suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries. The car sustained an estimated $2,000 damage.

Charges are currently pending.