By Rupert Howell
Two inmates and one sheriff’s department employee were injured when a vehicle slammed into the trailer and truck used to transport roadside litter on Highway 310 west of Como Friday, February 6.

Mississippi Highway Patrolman Shane Phelps who investigated the accident said the inmates were lucky they were not injured worse than they were.

All three, Chapman and the inmates, were treated and released from Tri-Lakes Medical Center the same day.

Phelps said the driver of the truck, Delaney Wortham, was ticketed for driving while license suspended. The patrolman also said Wortham refused being transported by ambulance although he did complain of some pain at the scene.

Panola County Chief Deputy Chris Franklin went to the scene soon after the collision and reported that the injured inmates who had been picking up roadside litter were putting trash bags on the trailer when the accident occurred.

Phelps said the truck hit the trailer which swung hitting both trustees.

Franklin stated inmates were wearing reflective vests and vehicles and equipment being used had flashing lights and signs warning motorists that the crew was working roadside.

Franklin also said the accident occurred on a long straight stretch of the highway, but deep ditches alongside the road prevented Sheriff Department employee Greg Chapman from getting completely off the highway.

“He was off as far as he could get,” the Chief Deputy noted.

He also said Chapman and the two inmates were still recovering at home and at the jail respectively.

“He (Chapman) took a pretty good lick. It knocked the radios out of the dashboard,” Franklin said.

The roadside cleanup crew is now sidelined without a truck or trailer to do the job Franklin noted stating the county’s truck might be repaired but the trailer is a total loss.