Power line concerns lead officials to work cautiously at Cedar Rapids rollover

A woman was taken to the hospital late Thursday night after her vehicle ran into a utility pole on Johnson Avenue NW and flipped on its side.

An officer on the scene said the woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries and confirmed a witness' statement that the woman said she had been texting when she crashed into the pole.

The pole the woman hit toppled to the ground, bringing with it a power line that, according to a representative from Alliant Energy, appeared to knock out power at one nearby building. When officers reached the scene, they noticed the wire was wrapped around the overturned vehicle. They asked the woman if she needed immediate medical attention and, when they determined she didn't, waited until workers from the energy company made sure the wire didn't pose a shock danger to the woman or the officers before extricating her.

Tim Long, 45, lives in a house adjacent to the scene of the crash and said he heard two loud smashes. He said he wanted to make sure the woman was OK, but saw that she was "very frazzled." The woman wept on the curb while officers surveyed the scene and spoke to her.

Thayne Short of Alliant Energy said officials will need to replace the pole and the wire, but said the task "shouldn't be too bad." He said incidents in which a car crashes into a utility pole happen "more than you'd think." Short said officers would likely have been fine extricating the woman from her vehicle without Alliant's assistance in this situation, but lauded authorities for being cautious.