Bartley man hospitalized in Kearney

A black quad-cab Dodge pickup sits in an impound yard, its cab crushed in a roll-over accident Thursday evening west of Bartley. (McCook Daily Gazette)

BARTLEY, Nebraska -- A 26-year-old Bartley man suffered serious injuries in a roll-over accident on a Highway 6&34 curve a quarter-mile west of Bartley, Nebraska, about 9 p.m., Thursday.

The Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, Nebraska, listed Joseph Sitzman of Bartley in fair condition this morning. Sitzman was taken from the accident scene to Cambridge Memorial Hospital and then transferred to the Kearney hospital, according to a preliminary accident report from the Red Willow County Sheriff's Department.

Sitzman was one of three passengers in a 2007 quad-cab Dodge pickup driven by Brandon Howell, 28, of Lexington. Two occupants were taken to the Cambridge hospital; two were taken to Community Hospital in McCook.

The other two passengers were Danielle Payne, 29, and Mahlen Wright, 23, both of Indianola. Howell, Payne and Wright have all been released from the hospitals, Sheriff Gene Mahon said this morning.

Sheriff's officers and officers of the Nebraska State Patrol continue the investigation. Alcohol is suspected as a contributing factor in the accident, Sheriff Mahon said.