Pepsi truck overturns in creek

Staff report

Fuel from an overturned PepsiCo truck Tuesday morning wasn’t the only thing contaminating Greenbrier Creek.

Bottles of soft drinks by the dozens were seen floating downstream after the Carroll-based truck struck a bridge on 290th Street south of Jefferson about 9:32 a.m. and rolled into the creek below, according to Trooper Jeff Cunningham of the Iowa State Patrol.

The driver — a Carroll man whose name was temporarily being withheld — was able to free himself from his twisted cab, according to Cunningham, and was conscious when first responders arrived.

He nevertheless was flown by medical helicopter from the Greene County Medical Center to a hospital in Des Moines with a head injury, Cunningham said.

The driver was hauling soda from Jefferson to Bayard, via the Pepsi bottler in Carroll, when the crash occurred.

Authorities weren’t immediately sure what caused the driver to cross the center line and strike the bridge over the road also known as E57.

“He doesn’t remember any of it,” said Jack Williams, chief deputy of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and Jefferson fire chief.