Insurance will pay to replace a street light destroyed by a truck last weekend in downtown Charles City.
The light and pole, in the 300 block of North Main Street, was knocked over by a truck operated by 25-year-old Ben Miller of Floyd, who was moving snow, shortly after 1 am Sunday (01.19) morning. The incident was caught on the KCHA downtown street camera that points to the north of the studio.
The video shows the truck, with snow plow, drive up onto the sidewalk to clear snow, stopping just short of the light pole in front of the office of Marathon Media. The truck then backs up and into the light pole near the entrance to First Citizens Bank, snapping it off, causing the other street lights to flicker and dim momentarily.
The video shows a Charles City Police squad car pass the scene about two minutes later and, while Miller tries to flag down police, the patrol vehicle continues to head north on North Main Street.
No charges were filed against Miller and, during Wednesday’s (01.21) City Council meeting, City Attorney Brad Sloter said Miller’s insurance company will pay to replace the pole and street light at a cost of about $5,000.
It’s the second street lamp post needing to be replaced in downtown Charles City within the past year due a pickup truck collision.
Last May, a Charles City man was injured after his pickup ran into and also snapped off a street light in downtown Charles City. The crash, also captured by a KCHA downtown camera, showed the truck veer into the northbound lane in the 200 block of North Main Street, clip an oncoming car, and continue through the Clark Street intersection, narrowly missing another oncoming vehicle. The truck then snapped off the street lamp post before colliding with the outside wall of the law offices of Elwood, O’Donohoe, Braun and White.
It was believed the driver had a medical issue that contributed to the accident.
