Local Woman, USAF Vehicle Collide

A Sidney, Neb., woman was taken to Sidney Regional Medical Center Wednesday, April 18, after the car she was driving and a military vehicle collided on Link 17J at about 2:39 p.m.

According the accident report by Sidney police, Rosella Mehling, 87, of Sidney, was driving a 2004 Cadillac full-size four-door sedan as a military convoy with emergency lights was traveling south on Link 17J. The report said convoy security had traffic blocked at the intersection of Link 17J and Old Post Road. Traffic Control/Convoy Security was out of the vehicle wearing a traffic vest and had traffic stopped with a clear intersection.

The report states that Mehling's vehicle entered the intersection from the east, traveling west on Old Post Road as the convoy entered the intersection traveling south. A vehicle in the convoy, a Humvee, collided with the passenger side of Mehling's Cadillac, causing the car to slide to its final position near the southwest corner. The military vehicle, driven by Matthew Grenier, Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyo., stopped in the intersection, then proceeded to the west should of Link 17J near westbound Interstate 80 Exit 59. The driver of the military vehicle was advised by the convoy commander to continue enroute to F.E. Warren AFB due to the sensitive cargo in the convoy.

The car was described in the report as totaled.

Mehling was later transported to a hospital in Loveland, Colo. A family member said she has a broken femur and broken ribs among her injuries.