Sequoyah County Man Killed, Another Injured In Suspected DUI Crash

Alcohol may have played a part in the death of a Sequoyah County man who was killed in an early morning accident just south of Brushy Lake State Park on Saturday.

It happened on State Highway 17, just before 5:30 a.m.

According to a report by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP), 24-year-old Jimmy Cheater was driving a 2006 Pontiac GTO south on US 17 when the vehicle departed the roadway to the left for an unknown reason.

The vehicle struck a culvert and a tree, then rolled approximately one and a half times ejecting the driver 80 ft from the car. Cheater was pronounced dead at the scene.

A passenger in the vehicle, 24-year-old Trenton Thirsty of Sallisaw, Okla., was transported from the scene via ambulance to Sparks Hospital. He is listed in stable condition.

Troopers investigating the scene say they detected the odor of alcohol, but say the cause of the crash was due to unsafe speeds on a curve.

Thirsty was the only occupant in the vehicle wearing a seatbelt.