Royal City man crashes car, drags self to get help

QUINCY — A Royal City man is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a single-car collision Tuesday morning near Quincy, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Steven Torres Morales, 19, was driving a 2016 Nissan Altima at very high speed on Adams Road North when he lost control of the vehicle near the 5800 block, according to the statement. The vehicle left the road, traveled the barrow ditch, struck a small concrete irrigation canal and became airborne. The car then landed in the yard of a home and continued northbound, still at a very high rate of speed. It crossed over the top of a full, 75-foot-long irrigation pond and struck a large tree. That impact caused the rear end of the vehicle to rise and smash the roof against the tree. The vehicle then came to rest on its wheels near the tree.

Morales, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected through the windshield when the vehicle hit the tree, the GCSO wrote. He dragged himself across the driveway and to the door of the home, where he was discovered by the home's occupants around 6 a.m. It’s not clear how long Morales waited outside for help. Upon discovering Morales, the home’s occupants immediately called 911.

Morales was transported by ground ambulance to Quincy Valley Medical Center with critical injuries, according to the statement.