Lawrence 16-year-old injured in one-car accident just west of town

Emergency crews wait for a patient at the intersection of Sixth Street and Folks Road. A driver was critically injured when his car hit a tree early Friday morning; he was taken by air ambulance to a Topeka-area hospital.

A 16-year-old Lawrence boy was taken to a Topeka hospital early Friday after he lost control of his mother’s 2012 Porsche just northwest of Lawrence and struck a tree, a Douglas County Sheriff’s spokesman said.

Sgt. Steve Lewis said Josh Boisen was driving north on East 1100 Road, an extension of Folks Road, about 4 a.m. when he lost control of the car, struck the tree and totaled the vehicle. It occurred at the intersection of North 1700 Road, which turns into Peterson Road.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical workers extricated the injured Boisen from the vehicle, and he was flown to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center.

A Stormont-Vail spokeswoman said Friday hospital officials were not authorized to disclose his condition because of the hospital’s patient privacy policy.

Lewis said officers believe speed was a factor in the crash, but it was still under investigation Friday morning.

Boisen was the car’s only occupant.