Passenger struck, killed on Will Rogers Turnpike after stepping from disabled car
BY SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2012
12/30/12 at 6:04 AM
A passenger in a car that was disabled on the roadway was killed Friday night after she stepped out of the vehicle and was hit by a westbound pickup on the Will Rogers Turnpike.
Joyce M. Kapcsos, 25, of Miami, Okla., was transported to St. John Medical Center, where she died from massive injuries, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Brad C. Evans, 21, who had been driving the disabled Ford Taurus, and another passenger, Lesheay M. White, 24, both of Miami, Okla., were treated and released.
They were struck around 9:36 p.m. by a Nissan pickup driven by Gerald Bruce, 27, of Kansas City, Mo., on Interstate 44 in Rogers County.
Bruce attempted to avoid hitting the disabled car but struck it and Kapcsos in the passenger side rear, the OHP said.
The Taurus was forced off the roadway into a ditch.
Bruce and his three passengers were not injured.
A five-car pileup involving 12 people occurred two minutes later in the same location when the driver of a Freightliner, Vatchagan Torosian, 50, of Van Nuys, Calif., swerved to avoid the two-car crash and hit four vehicles parked on the shoulder, the OHP said.
Only a 6-year-old boy, Austin M. Reeder of Lawton, was listed as being injured. He was transported to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, where he was admitted in stable condition with leg and internal injuries, troopers said.
Everyone in the five-car crash was wearing a seat belt.
Original Print Headline: Accident on Will Rogers Turnpike kills passenger
