Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Bush slightly injured in jogging accident

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

Tuesday, November 2, 1999

Bush slightly injured in jogging accident
Governor, DPS trooper dive to avoid trailer
By Michael Holmes
Associated Press

   AUSTIN - Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican presidential front-runner, sustained minor injuries to his right leg and hip Monday when he dove to avoid a truck trailer that overturned near his jogging path.
   Bush was treated at the scene and later traveled to New Hampshire for a scheduled campaign swing, said Linda Edwards, Bush's press secretary.
   "I feel great," Bush said by telephone from New Hampshire.
   Staff Sgt. Roscoe Hughey, a 39-year-old Texas Department of Public Safety agent who was accompanying Bush on a bicycle, received bruises to his left side, DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said. He was treated at the Brackenridge Hospital emergency room and released about four hours later, said hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Elsea.
   Bush was running on the hike-and-bike trail around Town Lake in downtown Austin when the accident occurred about 12:06 p.m., according to Edwards and the Austin Police Department.
   A truck pulling a dumpster-like trailer was traveling on the street that parallels the jogging trail when the trailer overturned. Debris - including chunks of concrete and wood - were dumped across the jogging path.
   "I was at the end of a three-mile run when I heard the noise, looked back, saw it start to tip and my instincts were to dive," Bush said.
   Bush said he scraped his right leg and hip when he dove behind a bridge support. He said he was not struck by the debris from the truck.
   "I've got a significant strawberry," Bush said.
   Bush said he was pleased to learn that Hughey was not seriously injured.
   "I'm very lucky and so is the DPS agent. I was very concerned about him," Bush said.
   A witness, Ernest Bedford, 50, a pipeline inspector for the city who was working nearby, said he didn't hear any brakes squeal, just "a big, loud bang."
   Bedford said he saw Bush in the clear but "the other guy was reaching his hand up out of the debris."
   Bush used Hughey's cellular telephone to call DPS officials at the Governor's Mansion, and they called 911, Edwards said. "The governor stayed with Roscoe until he was in the ambulance," she said.
   Hughey is a member of Bush's security detail.
   Campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said there was no reason to suspect that the driver intended to hit the governor.
   "We're not clear what made it lose control, but the truck was out of control," Edwards said.
   Austin police spokesman Kevin Buchman said the accident remained under investigation and that no charges had been filed as of Monday evening.
   Because no one was killed, any penalty would likely be no more than a couple of traffic tickets, Buchman said.
   Police did not immediately release the truck driver's name.
   A sign painted on the truck identified it as belonging to Longhorn Disposal. The company didn't immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press.
   Bush said the accident won't curb his jogging on public streets.
   "I intend to go jogging (again) on the very same spot," Bush said.

| Talk about this story | Next Story | Home |

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]