76-year-old man dies after SUV hits his disabled truck on US 52
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — A 76-year-old Lafayette man with a disabled truck died in a crash late Tuesday morning in Tippecanoe County, the sheriff’s office says.
Investigators think an SUV hit the disabled truck of James Weldon while he was outside it along U.S. 52. The crash pushed Weldon’s truck into a ditch and atop him. He died at the crash scene, which is in an industrial area southeast of Lafayette.
The Tippecanoe County 911 Center received a call at 11:41 a.m. Tuesday about the crash in the 4800 block of U.S. 52 South. That’s near the intersection of South County Road 450 East, just southeast of Veterans Memorial Parkway.
A second crash happened about 10 minutes later. That crash involved a good Samaritan who had pulled over to try to help Weldon. The good Samaritan was taken to a hospital with injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
The highway was closed about three hours for the investigation.
Here’s what investigators think happened:
- Weldon was driving a 2005 Ford F-150 pickup truck that experienced a mechanical failure. The truck stopped partially in a travel lane.
- Weldon exited the truck and was on the passenger side when a northbound 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee hit the back of the truck, forcing it into the ditch and pinning Weldon under the pickup. The SUV driver, Kurtis Crabtree, 36, of Lebanon, “failed to change lanes in time,” said a news release from the sheriff’s office. Crabtree was not injured.
- The second crash happened in the southbound lanes adjacent to the first crash. The driver of a pickup truck with a flatbed trailer had pulled to the side of the road to render medical assistance in the first crash. A southbound vehicle hit the back of the pickup truck-flatbed trailer. Neither driver in the second crash was identified in the sheriff’s office news release.
Drugs and alcohol were not believed to be factors in the crash, but toxicology were pending.
This story has been updated with information on the crash location.