Driver Crashes In Delaware County Trying To Avoid Hitting Dog

Two people were hospitalized Sunday afternoon after a single-vehicle crash in Delaware County when the driver of a car ran off the road to avoid hitting an animal in the road, according to an OHP collision report. 

The driver, 64-year-old William Burtchett, was driving his 2007 Chevy HHR westbound on the Cherokee Turnpike near Kansas, Oklahoma, when he swerved to avoid hitting a small dog on the road, the report states. 

Burtchett then overcorrected and his car ran off the right side of the road and struck a rock retaining wall before it spun back around onto the road and ejected Burtchett, the OHP said. He was transported by life flight to a Fayetteville, Arkansas hospital in critical condition. 

Burtchett's passenger, Debra Burtchett, 59, was pinned for 25 minutes before Kansas firefighters were able to extricate her, the report states. She was transported to a Fayetteville hospital in serious condition.

The Burtchetts are both from Drumright. Neither were wearing seatbelts. 

Traffic was diverted on the eastbound side of the turnpike temporarily. 

The highway was completely reopened after an hour.