Pickup shears off power pole, in north Beatrice ATM accident

BEATRICE - No one was injured when a pickup inadvertently backed away at a high speed from a bank ATM machine…hitting and shearing off a power pole, Tuesday afternoon.

The accident happened near Sargent Street and U.S. Highway 77 in north Beatrice, sending police and fire officials there at 3:18 p.m.
After the pickup struck the pole, it brought the pole down on the back of the truck. Beatrice Police Sergeant Wes Henning said the pickup driver was at the ATM apparently reaching for his card in the machine….when his foot slipped.

"He was trying to get his ATM card out of the ATM, when his foot went onto the gas."

The pickup traveled from the ATM, over a grass median, onto Sargent Road…and then off the south side of the street down an embankment, before hitting the pole.

The pickup also sheared off part of the front of an sport utility vehicle parked near the ATM, while backing away from the lot. "There was nobody else in the other vehicle...they were inside the business. Nobody's hurt."

The accident knocked out power to the nearby Buchheit Farm Store. The downed pole was at the northwest corner of the business.

A City of Beatrice electric crew was sent to the scene to make repairs and restore power. No one was cited in the accident.