A single-vehicle rollover crash blocked State Highway 53 for four hours Monday and left the driver pinned in the wreckage for an hour before he was extricated by Ardmore and Springer firefighters.
Mark M. Packheiser, 43, of Grand Prairie, Texas, was airlifted by Eagle Med to the Norman Regional Hospital in fair condition, according to OHP Trooper Mark Glenn. He attributed the crash to unsafe speed.
Packheiser was driving a Sterling semi, pulling a dump trailer on SH 53 a half-mile west of the I-35 Exit 42 when the vehicle ran off the south side of the highway. An overcorrection sent the rig off the opposite side where it overturned onto the top. Glenn said the crash occurred at 4:13 p.m. The highway remained blocked until 8:24 p.m.
Glenn said the driver was using his seat restraint.
Assisting at the scene were Troop F Supervisor Allen Henry and Troopers Ken Duncan, Justin Pope and Bryant Harris and Southern Oklahoma Ambulance Service. Oklahoma Department of Transportation assisted with traffic control.
