No injuries were reported but one vehicle was totaled and another suffered disabling damage in a two-vehicle accident on Iowa Highway 4 last week. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office has released details following an investigation into the incident in Panora. They were called to the scene near Lakeside Village at approximately 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Thirty-four-year-old Sarah Marie Wurr of Guthrie Center was northbound on Highway 4 in a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and was making a left-hand turn. Twenty-one-year-old Brodrick Allen Rickheim of Yale was also traveling northbound in a 2008 Dodge Avenger and rear-ended the Wurr Jeep. Rickheim told authorities his ABS and check engine light had been going on and off for the past two days and he could not stop in time. He also said he tried to go around the Jeep to avoid a collision but was not successful. The investigating officer reported that after examining the point of impact and the small length of the skid marks left by the Rickheim vehicle, he believes he was following too closely, there was a delayed reaction before the brakes were applied or a combination of both. There was an estimated $10,000 in damage to the Wurr vehicle and $8,000 in damage to the Avenger. Rickheim was cited for failure to stop at a safe and assured distance.
