Chase-crash victims still in hospital

HUMPHREY -- Two Humphrey men are improving after more than a week in a Sioux City, Iowa, hospital recovering from severe injuries suffered Oct. 4 in a one-vehicle crash while being chased by a sheriff’s deputy at speeds surpassing 100 miles per hour.

A spokeswoman for Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City said driver Joey Korth, 24, was listed in serious condition today. Passenger Brian Werner, 29, was listed in fair condition, the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman declined to give any other injury information on the patients, citing privacy concerns.

The Nebraska State Patrol investigated the accident because a sheriff’s deputy was involved in the incident.

Platte County Attorney Sandra Allen said this morning her office has not yet received the State Patrol’s accident report. Allen said her office would review the report before making any decisions on possible charges in the case.

Korth was listed in critical condition with head and numerous other injuries in the days after the crash northeast of Lindsay. Werner was listed in stable condition after suffering a broken back and other injuries.

The incident began about 2 a.m. Saturday when a Platte County Sheriff’s Department deputy attempted to stop Korth’s 2000 Pontiac Grand Am for a speeding violation on Highway 91 about three miles east of Lindsay, Sheriff Jon Zavadil said.

The sheriff said the chase began when the Korth vehicle didn’t stop, but turned north onto the paved St. Ben Blacktop (400th Avenue). The Korth vehicle, traveling in “excess of 100 mph,’’ lost control and went into a cornfield and rolled several times, he said.

“They ran out of blacktop, hit the gravel and that’s when they lost control,’’ Zavadil said. He said the deputy chasing the two men followed all of the department’s procedures for a high-speed chase.

The department’s pursuit procedures call for the deputy to notify the dispatch center of the beginning of a pursuit. The deputy’s lights and siren must be in use and the dispatch center’s supervisor is notified.

The officer can end a chase at any time the public danger outweighs the reason the vehicle is being pursued.