An accident report sheds more light into a two-vehicle crash in northeast Kearney involving a Buffalo County Deputy Sheriff. It occurred around 11:00pm on Friday February 2, 2024 at the intersection of 56th Street and Ave N.
Based on prior information from the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office and the Nebraska State Patrol’s accident report, it occurred as Deputy Sheriff Ephraim Valenzuela, age 61, was traveling eastbound on 56th Street while operating a marked Sheriff’s Office vehicle. Twenty-nine-year-old Johanna Wagner of Kearney was traveling northbound on Ave N in a Ford Fusion when both vehicles collided at the intersection.
The accident report indicates the Ford Police Interceptor drifted off the roadway and then across both lanes of traffic. It then ran off the roadway into the intersection where the front collided with the left, rear passenger door area of the Fusion as it was preparing to make a turn. Both vehicles were spun around. Both drivers were transported to CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney for medical treatment.
Dash camera and body camera footage from the Sheriff’s Office vehicle showed that the vehicle accelerated at what appeared to be “full throttle with the steering wheel moving around as though there were no hands holding it. The State Patrol report continues that the driver of the Sheriff’s Office vehicle did not brace for impact as normal reaction in collisions. The report concludes that investigators believe that Deputy Valenzuela had “some sort of medical issue, causing the rapid acceleration and lack of control” of the vehicle. Deputy Valenzuela is a 33-year veteran deputy with the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office.
