A late Saturday night crash closed N.C. Highway 24-27 at the Moore County and Montgomery County line, sending three people to the hospital, and splitting a power pole into several pieces.

First responders were dispatched just after 11:45 p.m. to the intersection of Highway 24-27 and Tarry Church Road, to what was described as a head-on collision. Responding Westmoore firefighters located the crash scene yards from the county line. UNC Carolina Air Care was requested by dispatch right away and launched from their Aberdeen base within minutes of the call.

A Jeep Grand Cherokee was seen stopped sideways in the middle of the road with damage to the driver’s side, and both back wheels. A Ford Mustang was located around 100 yards from the Jeep off the road way, feet from the county line, with heavy front end and driver’s side damage. Moore County EMS evaluated the three people involved in the crash, and determined Air Care was not needed.

The N.C. State Highway Patrol investigated the crash, and say that the driver of the Mustang was traveling west on the highway when he dropped his phone. As he was trying to look for it, he crossed the centerline into the eastbound lane. The driver of the Jeep, traveling in the eastbound lane, attempted to swerve to avoid the collision, but was sideswiped by the Mustang. The Mustang continued off the roadway, hit a power pole splitting it into several pieces before coming to a stop in a ditch.

The two occupants of the Jeep and the one occupant of the Mustang were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The highway was closed in both directions for a little over an hour until the crash could be cleared.