Delivery truck hits utility pole in southeast Cedar Rapids

About 50 customers the southeast quadrant lost power when a delivery truck struck a utility pole and brought down power lines Thursday.

The delivery truck, from K&A Delivery Service of Urbana, was pulling over around 9:30 a.m. to deliver a washing machine at 1022 19th St. SE when the accident happened. The driver, Kevin Stallman, 44, of Urbana, hit the wooden pole with the front corner of the truck.

“The truck was leaning a bit, and the pole was leaning (toward the street), and it caught the pole,” police Officer Dan Lahr said.

The pole, which held a transformer and a streetlight, snapped in two spots. Live wires crossed 19th Street SE, forcing police to close it from Mount Vernon Road to 12th Avenue SE.

No one was hurt, police said.

Stallman was puzzled as he stood on the sidewalk, watching Alliant Energy workers fix the mess.

“It was just like a thud and then, ‘What the heck?'” Stallman said. “The first thing I asked was what did we hit, because there was nothing to hit.”

Alliant Energy spokesman Ryan Stensland said one of the downed lines fed four transformers. Crews rerouted power to get the transformers back online. About 20 customers were still without power at 2:30 p.m., but Stensland expected them to have juice within two hours.