Published: November 11, 2009 12:06 am      

Driver suffers spinal cord injury

A traffic mishap left anElkhart man seriously injured Teusday evening.

Elkhart County police report Thomas Nelson, 27, Elkhart, was driving east on C.R. 32 west of Ind. 19 five miles north of Wakarusa when his 2000 Chevrolet Impala left the road and roled over several times in a cornfield before striking a tree.

Police said Nelson suffered fractured vertebrae and a spinal cord injury. He was flow by helicopeter ambulance to South Bend Memorial Hospital for treatment.

A passenger in the car, Tracey Tweedy, 50, suffered pain and bleeding to his head.

County officers called in a crash investigation team, which is looking at the possibility that alcohol consumption may have been a factor in the crash.