ODOT Mower, Three Car Crash On Highway 169 In Owasso

Heavy showers contributed to a four-vehicle wreck that closed down U.S. Highway 169 southbound near 116th Street North for more than an hour Saturday morning. Everyone walked away from the crash with only minor injuries.

Nick Boatman with the Owasso Police Department says officers are trying to determine if an Oklahoma Department of Transportation mower was in the roadway at the time of the crash or if one of the vehicles veered off the roadway and slammed into it.

The Schutte family was caught up in the wreck. 

"It happened real fast and like my wife said, 'thank you God that we're OK,'" said Mark Schutte, crash victim. "We can get a new car, but I can't get a new wife and a new daughter."

Schutte said the highway was wet and he couldn't stop in time when vehicles in front of him were stopped in the road.

"I slammed on my brakes and rear-ended hte car in front of me - chain reaction," he said.

Mark's wife Beth said she used her skills as a nurse to check on other drivers and passengers.

"It was heart pound," Beth Schutte said. "The first thing I wanted to do is make sure my family was OK."

A tractor mowing with a brush hog on the medians and shoulders of the highway was caught in the crash. The driver walked away, surprised to see a car plowed into his tractor.

Police were trying to figure out who was at fault.

"Either one vehicle left the roadway to sstrikethe mower or the mower entered the roadway and struck a vehicle," said Lieutenant Nick Boatman, Owasso Police. "We're not certain at this point."

"Unfortunately in this situation it was also raining at the time of the collision, so it made the roads very slick," he said. "It is a dangerous job, and we ask that motorists pay attention to people working in the roadway and in construction zones."

Three cars crashed with the tractor. Three people were treated at the scene for minor injuries and released, Boatman said.