Two area men seriously injured in unrelated crashes

Two area men were seriously injured in recent unrelated crashes, including one crash that involved a Missouri State Highway Patrol vehicle.

At about 8:38 p.m. Sunday, Ian S. Johnston, 19, of Poplar Bluff was operating a 1989 Chevrolet pickup eastbound on U.S. 60, one mile north of Fisk, in Stoddard County, according to a highway patrol report.

“A trooper was investigating a non-injury traffic crash when a suspected impaired driver came along and hit his patrol car,” said patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott.

The trooper’s 2020 Ford Explorer was unoccupied at the time of the crash.

Johnston was arrested at 8:56 p.m. on suspicion of DWI and failure to drive on the right half of the road, resulting in a crash.

Johnston was released to medical personnel and taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center for treatment.

In an earlier crash, at 8:18 p.m. Thursday, the patrol reports Donald G. Davis, 46, of Ellsinore operating a northbound 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle when it struck a deer in the road.

The crash happened on Highway 21, five miles south of Ellsinore.

Davis was flown to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis for treatment.