A spate of accidents in Levy County in the past week has left two women dead, nine injured and one man in jail on a charge of driving under the influence, according to Florida Highway Patrol reports.

The first fatal accident occurred on Friday, Oct. 9, at about 7 a.m. when Carrie L. Cates, 39, of Bronson was struck by the passenger side mirror on a 2008 Ford pickup truck driven by Edward C. Hodge, 18, of Williston as she jogged on the paved shoulder of U.S. 27A/State Road 500 near Bronson town limits.

Cates, who was wearing a reflective vest and carried a flashlight, was hospitalized at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida after the the accident. She was pronounced dead on Monday, Oct. 12, at 5:02 p.m.

Hodge, who was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, was tested for blood alcohol content. The accident is being investigated by FHP Cpl. Rodney W. Howard.

In the second fatal crash, Sarah Danielle McArthur, 20, of Morriston, was pronounced dead at the scene of a one-vehicle accident on Southeast 114th Avenue, 500 feet south of Southeast 21st Place, about 11 miles south of Bronson. Justin Ray Bryant, 19, of Williston, and Donald Bobby Rhodes Morris Jr., 20, James Harrison Rhodes Morris, 21, Cheyenne Michelle Williams, 21, and Kevin Lee Berryhill, 16, all of Morriston, sustained minor injuries in the accident that occurred at 10:20 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12.

FHP Cpl. Howard's report notes McArthur was headed north on Southeast 114th Avenue when she lost control of the vehicle and it rotated on the limerock roadway, going onto the shoulder where it overturned. McArthur was pronounced death at the scene by Levy County Emergency Medical Service workers.

McArthur and her five passengers were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

On Saturday, a Chiefland man was charged with driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident with serious injuries, and driving without a license in a crash that occurred on U.S. Highway 27A and Northeast 145th Avenue on  at 3:10 p.m.

Abel X. Mixtega, 25, of Chiefland, was driving a 1992 Toyota, weaving from lane to lane, according to the FHP report when his eastbound vehicle crossed into another lane, collided with a  2005 Chrysler driven by Sally Herrington, and knocked it off the road and causing it to overturn.

Mixtega was apprehended as he tried to leave the scene and refused a breath test, according to the FHP report by Trooper J.T. Clark. He was taken to the Levy County Jail.

Sally Herrington, 63, of Summerfield,  hospitalized with serious injuries at Shands Hospital was one of five persons injured in the wreck. Others injured in the crash were: Chris Franzen, 38, and Danielle Franzen, 14, both of Summerfield and passengers in Herrington's vehicle, minor injuries; Gorge Alonzo, 29, of Morriston, passenger in Mixtega's vehicle, minor injuries.

Mixtega and Alonzo, were not wearing seat belts at the time. Herrington and the Franzens were wearing seat belts.

On Monday at 6:20 a.m.,  an accident on State Road 121, about 11 miles north of Inglis, resulted in serious injuries to truck driver Mahlon C. Ruby of Brooksville.

Ruby was headed south in his 2006 Peterbuilt tractor truck when a 1991 Honda operated by Karen A. Smith of Gainesville attempted to pass him on the left, but failed to complete the maneuver. When the Honda moved back into the right lane, the right front side of the car hit the left front side of the truck causing it to go off the road into a wooded area where it struck several trees.

Smith and her passenger, Chani R. Wali, were not injured. Smith was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, but her passenger was not.

Ruby was wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident.

 Lt. Patrick Riordan, a spokseman for the FHP, said while it would be nice to have a common thread as a cause of accidents when they spike this way, but accident investigation is not always so pat.

He said FHP investigators will be looking for indicators of what caused the crashes. He said officers will examine items such as road conditions, or lighting conditions that are noted along with other information in the reports.

“If you don't have an equipment failure and you didn't have another problem … if the fog was a condition that was present they will look at that,” he said.

“A lot of time what it gets down to is the driver, the human factor,” Riordan. He said it could be inattention, momentary distraction, miscalculating a speed or a turn or a distance.