STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Two Puerto Rican prison officials on their way to a private prison in Oklahoma to pick up at least one inmate were killed Thursday in a head-on collision in northern Oklahoma, authorities said.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said the crash occurred about 5 a.m. on Oklahoma 177 between Stillwater and Perkins when a vehicle driven by Michell Maria Anastasia, 49, of Perkins, crossed the center line of the highway and collided with the van carrying four Puerto Rican officials.
Anastasia and Mayra Ramirez, 54, and Eliezer Colon Claussells, both of Puerto Rico, all died as a result of the collision, the patrol said. Two passengers in the van were taken to a Stillwater hospital in serious condition with head and other injuries, according to the patrol.
Randolph said witnesses told troopers that Anastasia's vehicle appeared to be speeding when it crossed the center line into the southbound lane and crashed into the van.
The van was headed to the Cimarron Prison Facility in Cushing, which is owned by Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America. The prison houses medium- and minimum-security inmates, including about 400 Puerto Rican inmates, through a contract with the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, company spokesman Steve Owen said.
"This was an extradition team from Puerto Rico," Owen said. "Whenever an inmate is ready to be released, discharged, paroled or whatever, Puerto Rico sends a team to pick them up."
"This team was en route to the facility when the accident occurred," he said.
The prison also houses inmates from Oklahoma under a contract with the state.
Cushing is about 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.