A man was rushed to the hospital with a head injury Thursday evening after he was involved in a motorcycle accident

Darren W. Warren III, 21, rear-ended a van owned by the Okaloosa County Water and Sewer Department just after 5 p.m. He was not wearing a helmet.

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Timothy Hulion said traffic was backed up from the signal at State Road 85 to Poquito Road at the time of the accident.

"Basically like every afternoon, traffic backed up from the intersection up there and he wasn’t paying attention," Hulion said of Warren. "Traffic had almost come to a stop."

A doctor was on the scene before paramedics arrived. Warren was alert and talking when he was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.

None of the county employees in the van were injured.

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Flagler deputy injured in traffic accident

A Flagler County sheriff's deputy responding to a crash on a motorcycle was injured Wednesday when a tractor-trailer struck him in Palm Coast, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Sgt. Michael Van Buren, 42, was riding west on Palm Coast Parkway when he collided with a tractor-trailer coming from the northbound Interstate 95 exit ramp, said sheriff's spokeswoman Debra Johnson.

The crash involving Van Buren occurred shortly before noon as the sergeant was responding to a minor crash in which no one was injured. He suffered several fractures and other injuries and was taken to Florida Hospital Flagler where he will remain overnight, Johnson said.

Van Buren, who is the supervisor of the Flagler County sheriff's Traffic Unit, has worked for the Sheriff's Office since 1987, Johnson said.

The Florida Highway Patrol continues to investigate the accident but said Van Buren suffered facial injuries when his motorcycle crashed into the tractor-trailer. The driver of the truck, Roy L. Sanner, 66, of Ohio was not hurt, said FHP Lt. William Leeper.

Charges against Sanner are pending a full investigation, Leeper said.

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