Driver, passengers flee crash site

GREEN VALLEY-- A car crashed on Interstate 19 Monday night and its driver and possibly passengers fled the scene, precipitating a three-agency nighttime search.

Around 8:15 p.m. the white Chevrolet car was traveling northbound on Interstate 19 when it flipped and crashed near Kilometer 52, just south of the Arivaca/Amado Exit, according to Arizona Department of Public Safety Spokes-man David Klineman.

The driver and any passengers that may have been in the vehicle fled the accident, so DPS officers at the scene could not know how many people were in the car when it crashed, Klineman said.

Witnesses at the scene said that they saw at least one man staggering across the Interstate, and said that he was almost hit by several cars going south.

DPS, Pima County Sheriff's Department, and U.S. Border Patrol officers all searched the area for the driver and possible passengers, and located one man, 37-year-old Paul Furnac, a long-time Amado resident.

Klineman said that officials did not know whether Furnac was the driver of the vehicle or a passenger in it.

One emergency worker at the scene said Furnac claimed he was riding a motorcycle.

Furnac was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson with head injuries and lacerations on his shoulder and arms, according to Elephant Head Volunteer Fire Department Chief Steve Hulland.

Further details were not available.

thull@gvnews.com | 625-5511 x 22