Editor’s note: There’s an update to this story.
It was the length of a TED talk before an ambulance arrived.
At 7:33 p.m., the first ambulance pulled up to a crash site along Papago Road at State Route 347, joining one sheriff’s unit and well over a dozen bystander vehicles. About 18 minutes earlier, at 7:15, a car heading west had veered off the roadway and plunged into a deep ditch, according to witnesses.
The car landed where a monsoon-flooded wash runs beneath a traffic bridge at the eastern end of Papago. State and county leaders said earlier this month that a traffic signal is needed at that intersection.
Two witnesses told InMaricopa no one died in the collision, though one woman reported suffering serious injuries. Another occupant reported feeling relatively unhurt. The cause of the single-vehicle crash remains under investigation.
Papago Road was backed up eastbound Tuesday night as crews worked to haul the vehicle out. The car had rolled onto its side in muddy water at the bottom of a trench estimated at 10 feet deep.
It’s not yet known if alcohol or drugs were a factor. Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has turned the case over to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, according to a spokesperson. InMaricopa contacted AZDPS with questions about the investigation.
”Reported as a single-vehicle, unknown injury roll-over collision,” a DPS spokesperson said at 9 p.m. “Unknown cause of collision or injuries at this time.”











