A Grayson County deputy and a private citizen are heroes after pulling a Leitchfield man from a burning vehicle.
Grayson County Deputies Thomas Lane and Sean Fentress, Leitchfield Police Department Sgt. DJ Newton and Officers Brian Jennings and Tamara Jupin, the Leitchfield Fire Department, and EMS responded to the crash and vehicle fire at the intersection of Shrewsbury Road and Schoolhouse Road just after midnight Wednesday morning.
The initial information provided by Grayson County Dispatch was that a vehicle had wrecked at the intersection. But, as first responders were en route, dispatch reported the vehicle, a Lincoln MKX, had caught fire and that the male driver was still inside.
Lane was the first on the scene, as the Lincoln was fully engulfed in flames upon his arrival. Lane and a private citizen approached the burning vehicle and pulled the driver, Mason Whobrey, out of the Lincoln. Whobrey, who was conscious as he sat in the burning vehicle, appeared to be dazed or in a trance, according to first responders.
As is clearly apparent in the photos, if Whobrey had remained in the vehicle he surely would have died.
The wreck occurred when Whobrey drove directly into a ditch on Shrewsbury Road from Schoolhouse Road, causing significant damage to the front of the Lincoln. It’s possible, according to a witness, that Whobrey was stopped at the stop sign on School House Road and accelerated forward into the ditch.
He was given a field sobriety test, arrested and charged with DUI.
Whobrey was transported to Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center before being lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
