Man, 66, dead after single-car accident on 71st Street bridge
BY AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
2/06/13 at 9:59 AM
A motorist who may have experienced a medical issue before wrecking his minivan on the 71st Street bridge has died, police said.
Jimmie Weaver, 66, was pronounced dead at Saint Francis Hospital on Wednesday morning, said Officer Leland Ashley. The State Medical Examiner's Office will determine Weaver's cause of death, he said.
Police said Weaver's westbound van nearly hit an off-duty officer and ran a red light at the 71st Street and Riverside Drive intersection around 6 a.m.
The van then crossed the center median, veered back into the westbound lanes and crashed into a partition that separates motor vehicle traffic from bicyclists and pedestrians on the bridge's north side, police said.
The officer, Kendall Jobe, realized the driver, who was in his 60s, was experiencing a medical problem and pulled the man from the van, Jobe said at the scene. He and another officer performed chest compressions until medical responders with the fire department arrived.
The driver "couldn't have gotten quicker medical attention," Jobe said.
Police closed both westbound lanes of the bridge for about an hour as traffic investigators documented the crash and a wrecker removed the van.
Weaver's wife was treated for leg injuries and also transported to a Saint Francis Hospital.
Associated Images:
Tulsa police officers document a crash scene on the 71st Street bridge over the Arkansas River as a tow truck removes the wrecked vehicle Wednesday morning. AMANDA BLAND / Tulsa World
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