TREVORTON - A Maryland man was rushed to a trauma center after rolling his four-wheeler late Saturday morning on a portion of Zerbe Township coal strippings known locally as "coal hill."
Darrin "Hammer" Pritchard, 39, of Port Deposit, was riding a 2008 Kawasaki KFX 700 Sport at about 11:30 a.m. when in an attempt to climb a steep trail west of Trevorton, his all-terrain vehicle rolled backward onto him.
"Not being familiar with the area, he overpowered the machine and caused it to roll over," Robert John, Zerbe Township Police chief, said by telephone Saturday.
"He jumped off, and when he landed, he suffered a compound fracture of his left ankle and leg."
Emergency responders had difficulty locating Pritchard and his group of riders because they told responders they were at "the flats," which is in a different area of strippings south of Trevorton.
John blamed the mix-up on the out-of-towners' lack of familiarity with the area, and said it took about 15 minutes after the emergency call was placed before Pritchard and company were located.
The injured ATV rider did not have a permit from Reading Anthracite to ride on the private land, the police chief said.
Pritchard was driven from the accident scene on a off-road utility vehicle and loaded onto a Trevorton Community Ambulance at Sunshine Road.
He was driven to Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, where he was listed in fair condition by a nursing supervisor Saturday evening.
Assisting at the scene were members of Trevorton Fire Department and Fire Police, Coal Township Rescue Squad and AREA Services.
