Two seriously injured after Jeep crashes into tree

Two men were seriously injured in a Thursday morning car crash in Boone County.

Emergency crews were called to an injury accident around 11:15 a.m. on Route VV just north of Rangeline Street.

Officials say Colin D. McCarty, 47, and Deon D. Pacheco, 40, both of Columbia, were ejected from an open-top Jeep. The men were transported to University Hospital in Columbia with serious injuries.

Emergency crews believe speed and alcohol may be factors in the crash. Beer cans were found scattered on the ground by the crash scene.

“With the hilly, curvy roads we have in this area, it’s a very dangerous combination any time you drink and drive,” said Boone County Fire Battalion Chief Chuck Leake. “But when you add speed to that, which obviously with the amount of force and the distance they traveled and the cartwheeling of this Jeep, they were obviously traveling at a high rate of speed.”

The impact of the crash caused the Jeep to cartwheel several times and land in a tree.

Highway Patrol troopers say the men were not wearing seat belts.