(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – Three people were injured over the past week in separate Guthrie County accidents. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, 87-year-old Franklin Ray Mains, of Guthrie Center, suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries during an accident involving a riding mower at around 2:20-p.m. on July 31st. Authorities say Mains was riding a John Deere 4×4 tractor-sized yard mower westbound on a steep slope, while mowing the grass. The mower lost traction and rolled-over an unknown number of times and landed on Mains, who had been ejected from the machine. The mower came to rest on its wheels. It was still running, with the PTO (Power Take Off) running, when law enforcement arrived on the scene. Franklin Mains was transported by Panora EMS to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. The mower sustained about $500 damage, according to the report.

Sunday afternoon, a 13-year-old female from Guthrie Center and her 17-year old passenger, suffered suspected minor/non-incapacitating injuries, after the vehicle she was driving left the road on a curve and entered a ditch before striking a tree. The accident happened as the pickup the teens were in was traveling north in the 2500 block of 160th Trail, in Guthrie County. Authorities say the vehicle was traveling too fast to negotiate the curve. Both teens were transported to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines by Panora EMS. The pickup sustained $5,000 damage and was declared a total loss.

And, no injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident this (Tuesday) morning, in Guthrie County. According to the Sheriff’s Department, a 2023 Freightliner semi driven by 57-year-old William James Hounsom, of Indianola, was traveling north on Highway 25 at around 5-a.m., when the semi struck a cow on the road. The semi sustained $2,500 damage. The cow, owned by Austin Willms, of Guthrie Center, was valued at $750.