GUTHRIE CENTER, IA – An elderly Iowa man was killed when he struck a semi-trailer while driving Tuesday afternoon in central Iowa.
According to an Iowa State Patrol report, Donald Merle Wetzel, 85, of Guthrie Center was driving his 2008 Chevy Impala on Highway 25 north of 130th Street when he struck a semi-trailer attached to a truck that was backing into a farm drive. The truck and trailer were occupying both lanes but had its flashers and headlights on.
Wetzel’s vehicle came to rest under the trailer portion of the semi in the northbound lane.
Wetzel was transported from the scene by the medical examiner.
The driver of the semi, Duane Eugene Putney, 60, of Stuart, Iowa, was injured and taken by ambulance to Guthrie County Hospital.