BURLINGTON, IOWA – An Iowa teen driver reached to his backseat for a lost donut, causing his car to jump a curb and strike a man and pin him to a utility pole.
On June 10, 2023 just after 12:00pm, a construction worker, working on the apartment building under construction at the corner of 3rd and Columbia, was struck by a vehicle and pinned against a utility pole.
The construction worker, Santiago Fernandez, 26, of Iowa City, was returning from lunch when the accident occurred. Miles Middaugh, 16, of Burlington, was driving a 2014 Subaru Impreza west on Columbia from the Circle K located at 421 North Main St. Middaugh said a donut he had placed on the vehicle’s console fell to the backseat. Middaugh said he reached back to retrieve the donut and when he did so, the vehicle swerved to the left, jumped the curb, crossed the sidewalk and stuck Fernandez, pinning him against the utility pole.
Fernandez was transported to Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center by the Burlington Fire Department for treatment of a leg injury. Middaugh was cited for failure to maintain control.