Man injured when his truck left the highway and crashed into a motel

The driver of a pickup truck received what was said to be only minor injuries on Sunday morning when the vehicle he was driving left the road and crashed into a motel here in Jasper. The crash occurred shortly after 8:00 at the Sunrise Inn Motel in the 1700 block of South Wheeler Street, across from Harvest Church. What happened is not clear, but police said it appeared that early model Chevrolet, which was pulling a trailer and headed north, left the road, knocked down a large sign and crashed into the office of the motel. A witness who was following said the vehicle swerved a few times before leaving the road and going through the parking lot of the business. Despite the severe damage, the driver of the vehicle was able to make it out of the truck before firemen and other emergency crews arrived and did not appear to have any major injuries. However, he was taken by ambulance to Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital for examination and treatment. A clerk who worked in the office of the motel said she was in another room when the crash occurred and was not injured. No fire resulted from the incident.