By Kim McDarison
Some 530 We Energies customers in the Fort Atkinson area were without power yesterday morning after a vehicle driven by a teenager struck a utility pole.
According to Chief Deputy Jeff Parker of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the car involved in the single-vehicle accident was a 2006 Buick Lucerne. The male driver was the vehicle’s only occupant at the time of the crash.
Fort Atkinson Fire Department Division Chief Dion Brown said the driver appeared to have minor injuries and was able to exit the vehicle without assistance. He was transported by Ryan Brothers Ambulance Service to an area hospital.
Parker said no injuries to the driver were listed on his department’s incident report.
Both Parker and Brown said their agencies responded to a call for assistance at just after 8 a.m., Wednesday, June 30.
A truck from We Energies also arrived to the scene to replace the damaged pole.
Brown said the pole was “broken in half,” but its pieces remained suspended by utility wires.
Hanging wires and the positioning of the We Energies truck used to make repairs caused a road closure on Highway 12 for about an hour, he said.
The Fort Atkinson Police Department responded to the scene and assisted with traffic control, he added.
Brown said firefighters cleared the scene at 9:13 a.m.
We Energies spokesperson Alison Trouy said customers in the Fort Atkinson area were without power after the incident. The company arrived on site and replaced a pole. Power was restored to the affected customers by 9:07 a.m., she said.
The juvenile driver received a citation for failure to keep vehicle under control, Parker said.
Damage to the vehicle was noted on the right and left front end and its undercarriage. The damage was consistent with an impact with the pole and building, he said.
Information supplied by the sheriff’s office noted that the car was traveling northbound on US Highway 12 when the driver lost control. The vehicle ran into the utility pole on the west side of the highway near the intersection of US Highway 12 and County Trunk K. The pole was about 19 feet south of County Trunk K. The vehicle then moved back across the highway, striking the south side of a building located at N1834 US Highway 12 on the east side of the highway. Damage was sustained to the building on its south side.
The vehicle also hit a traffic sign post.
The building, as described by Brown, has a footprint of about 10 by 12 feet and is known locally as the “Royal Order of Jacks” clubhouse.
“There was damage to the little building, but we couldn’t fully assess the damage because we couldn’t get inside,” Brown said.
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