A routine afternoon on a rural Iowa highway turned into a three-vehicle pileup after a pickup truck driver failed to stop at a marked intersection, according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. The crash happened on July 27, 2026, at the intersection of Highway 3 and W Avenue, and it left every vehicle involved totaled.
Deputies responded to the scene around 1:13 p.m. and found a semi-truck with trailer, a Dodge Ram 5500 with trailer, and a sedan sitting in the ditch. It’s the kind of scene that makes you slow down even more than usual the next time you approach a rural stop sign, because it’s a reminder of how quickly things can go sideways when one driver misses a cue that everyone else on the road is counting on.
According to the investigation, 20-year-old Diego Ernesto Guardado Tejada of Grandview, Missouri, was driving the Dodge Ram northbound on W Avenue with a passenger, 21-year-old Evanny Garcia, also of Grandview. Tejada failed to stop at the intersection’s stop sign and pulled into the path of a westbound semi-truck driven by 29-year-old Singh Lakhwinder of Iselin, New Jersey. The two vehicles collided, and the impact sent them careening into a Chevy Impala driven by 28-year-old Seth Reinking of Westgate, Iowa, who was stopped at the same intersection in the southbound lane.
Dashcam footage that circulated before the sheriff’s office released its statement showed just how fast the pickup was moving as it entered the intersection, with the semi getting knocked out of frame by the force of the hit. It’s a tough clip to watch, especially knowing real people were behind the wheel.
Who Was Hurt and What Happened Next
Tejada, Garcia, and Lakhwinder were all transported to Community Memorial Hospital in Sumner for treatment. Their conditions haven’t been released publicly, and Reinking was not reported as transported.
All three vehicles, plus the semi’s trailer, were declared total losses. The case remains under investigation, so an official cause and any potential citations haven’t been finalized yet.
A Big Team Effort on Scene
Crashes involving a loaded semi tend to require more hands than your average fender bender, and this one was no exception.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office got backup from the Iowa State Patrol, Oran First Responders, Oran Fire Department, Mercy One Ambulance, and three separate towing and recovery outfits: Del’s Towing Service Center, B & L Towing, and Iowa Big Rig Service.
Clearing a scene with three totaled vehicles and a jackknifed rig is its own kind of logistical puzzle.
Our Take
Rural stop-sign intersections like this one are deceptively dangerous precisely because they look so calm. There’s no stoplight cycle forcing a pause, just a sign, a driver’s judgment, and a lot of trust that everyone approaching will do the right thing.
When a truck as heavy as a Ram 5500 with a trailer attached fails to yield at speed, there’s very little room for the other drivers to react. Here’s hoping everyone involved makes a full recovery, and that this serves as a good excuse to double-check your following distance and your brakes before you hit the highway this week.