Driver killed when SUV runs off road, overturns

A driver was killed and a passenger hurt Thursday afternoon when a sport utility vehicle ran off a highway in Crawford County and overturned, authorities said.

It happened about 2:45 p.m. as 28-year-old Mountainburg resident Shane McCormick was driving a 2001 Ford Escape south on U.S. 71, according to a Arkansas State Police report.

Police say the Escape ran off the west side of the highway in a curve south of Mountainburg, slid down into an embankment and overturned into a tree.

McCormick suffered fatal injuries. A passenger, 25-year-old Mountainburg resident Clarissa Grife, was taken to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, police said. The extent of her injuries wasn't clear.

Conditions at the time of the single-vehicle crash were said to be clear and dry.

The death was the 399th in a traffic crash in Arkansas so far this year, according to preliminary figures.

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