On Sunday night about 8:15 p.m., Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a man in his 30’s indicating his friend had been in a rollover accident and was seriously injured. The accident occurred in a remote area well off Perkinsville Road (Forest Road 318A) outside of the eastern boundaries of Chino Valley, Arizona.
The man, who was a passenger in the involved red Jeep, had hiked with a 5-year-old child for about an hour from the accident site to obtain cell service and make an emergency call. YCSO deputies immediately responded along with a DPS Ranger helicopter to search the pitch black wilderness area. Just before 11PM, the DPS Ranger crew located an overturned Jeep. After landing the crew confirmed the driver of the vehicle, in his 40’s, had died. In the meantime, medical personnel arrived to treat the passenger and child.
Deputies are still investigating the exact cause of the apparent single vehicle accident. Initial indications are that while the Jeep’s driver was negotiating an obstruction in the road, the Jeep rolled backwards off the road and onto an embankment. The Jeep then fell about 80 feet, overturning, before coming to rest. The child was apparently ejected. The passenger crawled away from the wreckage after attempting to treat the driver for his injuries. Both the child and passenger were transported for non-life threatening injuries. The deceased driver is the boyfriend of the child’s mother.