Sleeping driver wrecks van near Emery

EMERY -- A Sioux Falls man was transported to Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell with minor injuries after he fell asleep while driving Friday, according to Hanson County Sheriff Randy Bartlett.

Fredrick Ponca, 36, was driving a Chevy van westbound just after 7 a.m. Friday on state Highway 262 near state Highway 25, between Alexandria and Emery, when he allegedly fell asleep. His vehicle went into the ditch and came to rest on a set of railroad tracks.

The five passengers in the van suffered minor injuries and were released at the scene, Bartlett said. Ponca suffered soft-tissue damage but no broken bones, the sheriff said.

The van is nearly totaled from the accident, according to Bartlett, but there was no damage to the railroad tracks.

No citations had been issued as of Friday afternoon.

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