4-car chain-reaction wreck sends 5 to hospital

Five people were injured Thursday in a chain-reaction accident involving four cars on 32nd Street.

"Everyone was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries," said Officer Clint Norred, spokesman for the Yuma Police Department.

The accident occurred at 10:24 a.m. on 32nd Street about 100 yards east of Araby Road, almost directly in front of the Araby Acres RV Park.

Norred said based on the investigation, the four-car collision happened while three of the vehicles were slowing down for traffic.

Norred explained that all four vehicles were traveling west on 32nd Street when a 2002 Buick sedan driven by Linda Slater, 56, of British Columbia, began slowing down.

It was rear-ended by a 2004 Dodge pickup driven by 59-year-old Aldon Mercer of Yuma, Norred said.

The impact pushed Slater's car into the back of a 2004 Suzuki sport utility vehicle driven by Michael McLaughlin, 69, of Yuma, Norred said.

McLaughlin's Suzuki then rear-ended a white 2003 Chrysler minivan driven by 84-year-old Edward Holbrook of Yuma, he said.

All four drivers and Holbrook's wife, Elizabeth, were injured, Norred said.

Norred said everyone involved in the accident was transported for various injuries, although none was reported as being life- threatening.

He also added that traffic was not disrupted by the accident.

Norred said Mercer was cited for failure to control vehicle.



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James Gilbert can be reached at
jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.