Pickups Collide, Killing 1 Driver

An Elk City man was killed Saturday morning when the pickup truck he was driving collided head-on with a second pickup truck five miles outside Elk City.

Ronald Ponozzo, 44, was dead at the scene. The driver of the second truck, Lester Wart, 51, was uninjured and his passenger, Gerald Lee, 55, of Lewiston, was treated for minor injuries at the scene.

Ponozzo was driving a 1994 Dodge pickup at about 9 a.m. Saturday and crossed left of the center line on a sweeping right hand curve, an Idaho State Police dispatcher said.

Alcohol was involved in the accident, the dispatcher said. His truck collided head-on with a 1995 Dodge pickup driven by Wart, the dispatcher said.

The air bag in Ponozzo’s truck deployed, but he was not wearing a seatbelt. Wart was wearing a seatbelt and also had an airbag which deployed. Lee was not wearing a seatbelt.