MASON CITY – A Mason City man has been cited after losing control of his pickup and destroying a light pole near downtown.
At 10:36 PM on Sunday, February 21, 2021, a vehicle left the roadway, traveled through deep snow and crashed into two poles in the 100 block of 6th Street SW in Mason City. Mason City police tell NIT that a report to dispatch indicated that two poles had been struck by a vehicle, which had managed to be driven away from the immediate crash scene. When officers arrived on scene, they observed and investigated tire tracks through very deep snow piled into the boulevard between the street and sidewalk areas. The tracks led through the snow directly into the path of a power pole, which was toppled and laying destroyed on the ground. The tracks continued south across the sidewalk, where the vehicle struck a power pole, taking a sizable chunk out of the wooden pole. The vehicle then turned south and went back through the boulevard and deep snow, entered onto 6th Street SW traveling east and evidently turned south on President Avenue, where the driver apparently abandoned the badly-damaged vehicle.
After investigation and help from a mindful city employee who also went to the scene to assess the damage, police found the vehicle – a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado – parked on President Avenue between 6th Street SW and 7th Street SW with damage consistent with striking the poles. Police tell NIT they “were able to reach the owner (of the pickup) who told them the driver had just called him about the crash. The driver was identified as Corey Martinson, age 26, of Mason City.”
One of the poles was owned by Alliant Energy and the other by the City of Mason City. Damage to poles was estimated at $4,500. Damage to the 2008 Chevrolet Silverado that Martinson was operating was estimated at $9,000.
Martinson was not injured in the crash. He was cited for failure to maintain control.
