At approximately 7:15 pm on December 12, 2024, family and friends were gathering at a residence off FM-287 East (10.5 miles off US-59). As one person was leaving, he pulled his car out of the driveway onto 287 but failed to yield to an east-bound oncoming 18-wheeler tanker driven by Delbert Ray Clinard, 62, of Sperger.. Tragically, the semi couldn’t avoid the car and the vehicles collided. The impact sent both vehicles off the pavement to the left. The car, a gray Lincoln sedan came to rest at the edge of the woods on the west-bound side. The tanker plowed into the trees. The driver of the car, Lonnie Lynn Johnson, 59, of Moscow was killed on impact. The driver of the semi was uninjured. Allegiance Ambulance Service was dispatched to the scene along with the Corrigan Volunteer Fire Department. Deputies from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and Trooper Simon Mijardes with The Texas Highway Patrol. Trooper Mijardes was assisted by troopers from the neighboring county and Sergeant Ethan McAdoo. Due to the tanker carrying liquid nitrous oxide, for safety, both ends of 287 were blocked off for about a mile in each direction from the accident. Fortunately, the tanker was not ruptured. A heavy-duty wrecker from Riley Wrecker Service was summoned to clean up the mess. This accident remains under investigation by the Texas Highway Patrol.
