Brian Lee. Tulsa World file photo
: 2:42 p.m. Tuesday.
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UPDATED: 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Multiple reports have come to me today about
Brian Lee, a longtime Tulsa musician and
Leon Russell's backing keyboardist.
Around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, a vehicle he was riding in after a solo gig was struck by a drunk driver on I-44, about 20 minutes outside of
St. Louis.
Lee and his driver and friend,
Kurt Wise, crawled from the catastrophic wreckage and were transported to a St. Louis hospital.
Lee had performed at the
Jive and Wail piano bar in St. Louis earlier in the night and was on his way back to Tulsa for a Sunday morning church performance.
The vehicle "barrel rolled" about five times and skidded an additional 150 yards before coming to a stop on its roof, Wise said via his public Facebook profile. The car was struck by an erratic driver, which caused Wise's car to lose control.
The allegedly drunken driver who struck Wise's car then fled the scene, Wise also confirmed in a message to me via Facebook.
Police estimate the other vehicle was going around 100 mph in a 65-mph zone when it struck Wise's car then fled the scene. Because of the time of day and witnessed erratic path of the car, police believe the driver was under the influence.
Police are still looking for a
white sedan that left a partial license plate impression in Wise's bumper when it struck his car.
"Brian and I both crawled out of the passenger window and were taken by ambulance to (a St. Louis) hospital. I was treated for muscle spasms in my back and released, Brian was admitted," Wise wrote to me.
Of the car that struck him, "the radiator was ruptured and tracked to a specific neighborhood, so we are confident that he will be caught soon," wrote Wise in a message to me via Facebook.
Wise and Lee have been friends since they were teens and they both worked at local Tulsa radio stations, he said.
Friends of the musician also confirm that Lee was hospitalized in St. Louis with broken ribs and facial lacerations. He is still in the hospital. However, his current condition is unknown at this time.
I'll do my best to update everyone as I get details.
Get well soon, Brian!
