By By Adam Prestridge
A father and son were injured Thursday afternoon when the dump truck they were traveling in overturned on Hwy. 31 south in Perdido.
According to witnesses of the accident, the father and son, identified as 43-year-old Michael Ralph Lewis and 20-year-old Michael R. Lewis Jr., both of Theodore, were distracted by the driver of another vehicle causing them to veer off the side of the roadway and overturn in a ditch losing its load of rock.
Atmore resident Brandon Joiner was a passenger in SUV traveling about 100-200 yards behind truck and witnessed the 2005 Kent, 14-wheel dump truck lose control.
"A car was driving in front of him and the car kept slowing down and speeding up," Joiner explained. "The truck was riding the car and I had just made a comment to my friend about that when the car slowed down, causing the truck to swerve. It went to the right and when the tires hit the grass it flipped on its side."
Michael James, an employee with A1 Paving &Asphalt, was working on a driveway about 100 yards from the scene of the accident when it occurred around 4:20 p.m. at the 35-mile marker.
"I just saw the truck coming up the road, then the next thing I saw was it veering off the road," James said. "It went off the road and flipped onto its side."
Another Atmore resident, Tawaka Rolin, was driving the vehicle Joiner was traveling in when the accident occurred. Rolin, Joiner and the other passengers in her vehicle, Douglas Grimes and Wade Blackwell, were the first on the scene removing the accident victims from the truck.
"I called the police department first while they went to help the two men in the truck," she said. "They had to pull the windshield out to get to them. They were able to give us the names of their wives and we called them."
Michael Ralph Lewis, the driver of the dump truck, is an employee for Sylvester Trucking in Foley. It is unknown if his son is also an employee of the company.
Kelley's Ambulance transported both victims to Atmore Community Hospital. It is unknown what injuries they sustained in the accident.
Pitts &Sons Wrecker towed the dump truck from the scene of the wreck.
The Alabama State Troopers Office is still investigating the accident.