Police: 10-year-old paperboy injured in Hwy 99 crash
EUGENE, Ore. -- A 10-year-old was airlifted to a Portland hospital after he and his father were hit head-on by a pickup while delivering newspapers in their truck early Sunday morning, Eugene Police said.
19-year-old Tyler Jarred was driving his Toyota pick-up south on Highway 99 early Sunday morning when at around 3:30 a.m. the Junction City teen crossed into the oncoming lanes of traffic, officials from the Eugene Police Department said.
The truck collided head-on with a Dodge truck driven by Christopher Burgess, 39 from Eugene. Burgess was delivering newspapers with his 10-year-old son, officials reported.
The crash rolled Jarred's truck, which stopped on its top on the sidewalk in front of a gas station at the intersection of Highway 99 and Fairfield Avenue. EPD said that the truck caught fire and a passing citizen put the fire out with an extinguisher.
Both Jarred and the 10-year-old were trapped inside their vehicles and needed to be extricated by emergency crews. The boy was taken by Lifeflight to a Portland-area hospital while Jarred was transported to a local area hospital, officials reported.
EPD said that alchohol was a factor in the crash and that charges are pending in this incident.
EPD officers closed down the roadway so the department's Major Collision Investigation team could process the scene of the crash. They anticipated the closure to last until 10 a.m. Sunday morning.Fairfield Avenue was used as a detour for north bound traffic, vehicles headed south will be restricted to one lane near the crash site.
According to the Oregon Department of Transportation there are no delays associated with this incident in the area.
The register guards saying that the boy lost teeth and has a broken jaw, and a broken leg. He is a tough little man
and I'm praying for you and your dad keep you r head up=)Â
please pray for the young boy..
Hope they charge the 19 year old kid to the fullest extent of the law. The person who gave him the alcohol as well. Hope the 10 year old boy is all and well. The kid was either making money to help the family or making money for himself. LOCK HIM UP....
Personally I think the drunk driver should be sentenced to being the caregiver to the victim until the victim is able to return to their normal life. If that does not occur then the drunk driver should spend the remainder of their life being the person who maintains a quality of life the victim would have otherwise been able to provide for themselves. We all want to punish the drunk with jail and prison but there needs to be support for the person who's life is forever changed by the actions of that drunk 19 year old kid who never should have had alcohol in the first place.
One point that has been overlooked here;
Where did that 19 get the booze in the first place? The person who supplied/sold/gave the booze to Jarred should be charged as well.Â
I agree with XLRG to a point, I believe ANY driver that is in an accident that is drunk, any and all charges should be felony level.  Also the first DUII punishment should include a mandatory one year suspension with no "permits" ie, you become a bike rider, even to work.  The second one is a felony and you get all the perks of being a felon.
 @Springfielder With all we see happen, why should a first time offender get that punishment. Everyone knows not to drink and drive in the first place...Period! So it is not an accident or lack of knowing. And also knowing that the drinker puts every person on the road in danger. If you get in your vehicle and drive after drinking even once it should be a lot tougher than 1 yr. suspension.
This 19 yr. old did just that and it is probably his first duii, and he has seriously injured a little boy and devastated a family and you think he should only get a 1 yr. suspension? I do not agree!
I don't know why we don't make drunk driving a FELONY!!! This is just a damn shame. Innocent, hard working people paying for another drunken idiots mistake. I see it EVERY night driving around Eugene in my taxi. Stupid people should lose their drivers license after ONE DUII. It's just not getting better. If I see you driving drunk, I WILL call the police with a detailed description of you and your vehicle!
I for one would like to see a study between alcohol and marijuana related accidents. As a former user of both, I know drove extremely bad on alcohol. However when driving on mary jane I was twenty minutes late for all meetings. It was slow down and drive for me.
There it is again, I would like to see a study comparing alcohol related incidents that cause injury, and gun related incidents that cause injury, and likewise deaths. If there is such a study, I would bet that alcohol has it hands down.
I Agree I hope this scum get's what he deserves in jail
I hope the little boy doesn't lose his life because of that drunken idiot.