Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Troopers Pull Rosston Man From Truck

A Rosston man is alive today because of quick thinking and action on the part of two Arkansas State Police Troopers.

The two troopers were on a special drug detail in the Harrison area when they noticed a tractor-trailer rig burning in a ditch.

The pair, David Chastain and Dewayne Luter, had left a Harrison motel room when the saw the semi and a demolished 1987 Buick, which was sitting about 100 yards away on the opposite side of U.S. 65.

According to reports, the truck driver, David Wicker, was conscious when the officers pulled him from the semi, though he was trapped inside the rig.

Once Wicker was removed from his truck, the officers saw Tiana Tufts, 11, of Memphis, in the road. They checked on her and then went to the car in the ditch.

Tufts' father, James H. Dority, 35, of Omaha, Neb., was found inside the car, dead.

Troopers said the girl was breathing, but was badly injured. She was given emergency medical treatment at the scene by the officers, before being taken to St. John's Medical Center in Springfield, Mo.

Wicker, according to reports, wasn't badly hurt.

The officers said had they not happened upon the scene, the girl could have been hit by another vehicle and Wicker could have died in the fire.

According to their report, Dority's car was going south on U.S. 65 when it crossed the center lane, into the path of Wicker's truck.

Wicker was hauling roofing materials at the time, which caught fire after the impact and burned for several hours.

Authorities said the road was closed for three-and-a-half hours.