Man, 61, killed in car crash

A 61-year-old man was killed when the pickup truck he was driving ran off the roadway and slammed into a concrete barrier for a power pole along Flame Tree Road in Dandan early Sunday morning.

Police identified the fatality as Arthur Sibetang, a resident of Dandan, who was also found in possession of a Ruger .22 caliber revolver handgun with its holster. The gun was loaded with six rounds of ammunition in the cylinder.

Sibetang had a crushed chest, head injuries, internal injuries, and lacerations in the face, according to Department of Public Safety spokesman Travis Hurst yesterday.

Hurst said traffic investigators determined that alcohol was a factor in the crash. He said police officers detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the interior of the truck and found a glass cup containing a brown alcoholic beverage.

Investigators also determined that Sibetang was not properly restrained, causing him to impact with the steering wheel and front windshield.

Hurst said the accident, which was reported to DPS on Sunday at 2:26am, occurred on the eastbound shoulder of Flame Tree Road by the sharp curve in between the Jin Li Store and the Cepeda (Apong) residence.

Hurst said that Sibetang already had no pulse when a police officer arrived at the scene.

DPS medics brought Sibetang to the Commonwealth Health Center, where Dr. Florence Schenker pronounced him dead at 3:10am.

Hurst said Sibetang was driving a 1990 blue Toyota Hilux and was heading east when the vehicle ran off the road to the right and slammed head on with the concrete barrier that protects the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. power pole.

He said it was determined that no brakes were applied prior to the impact.

The truck had extensive damage to its front portion.

At the time of the crash, the weather was cloudy, the road surface was dry, and the area where it happened was dark.

Sibetang is the third fatality of a vehicular crash in the CNMI this year.

Last June 22, a woman and her unborn 5-month-old baby were killed while three other occupants of a Toyota Sienna van were injured when the vehicle they were riding crashed into a power pole along As Perdido Road.

Traffic investigators determined that speed was the major cause of the crash and the driver was arrested.

Last year, three were killed in separate vehicular accidents. All happened on Saipan and speeding and alcohol were determined to be factors in the accidents.