Driver cited for OWI after hitting pickup from behind

A driver said his pickup was pushed 15 feet when a driver suspected of being drunk hit his truck from behind in northwest Cedar Rapids Tuesday night.

According to Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Stephen Keiller, a white car and a red pickup were westbound on Johnson Avenue NW just before 8 p.m. Tuesday when the sedan rear-ended the pickup, which had stopped to turn left onto Wellesley Court NW.

Police blocked the westbound lane of Johnson Avenue NW between Shelley Lane and Janice Drive just before 8 p.m. Tuesday where the collision blocked the road, but the westbound lane opened back up at 8:24 p.m.

The pickup's driver, a 50-year-old Cedar Rapids man, appeared to have blood streaming from a small wound on his forehead. He said he was headed home from work when he was hit.

"I think he was going at quite a high rate of speed," the victim said, adding he didn't even hear the screech of the brakes behind him.

The car's driver, also a Cedar Rapids man, refused treatment for his injuries. He was cited for operating while intoxicated and failing to maintain control, police said.

The pickup's driver went to St. Luke's Hospital for treatment.