Crash scene near Dickens: Felon takes snow blower, leaves partner behind

Authorities aren't sure whether it was drugs, alcohol or head injuries from a car crash that left Ronald Moriarty disoriented Tuesday night.

But they do know Moriarty was a passenger trapped in a wreckage of late-model Chevy truck at about 6:07 that night just east of Dickens.

They know Thomas Carney, a 45-year-old Spencer man, was the driver.

And, their investigation suggests, Carney was worried about his own outlook when he gathered stolen property -- including a snow blower -- from a rural burglary, ran to an abandoned corn crib to escape authorities, and left his passenger behind.

"Not often, when a person is involved in an accident, that you're more concerned about your own skin than you are for your friend who is left in the vehicle," Clay County Sheriff Randy Krukow said.


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