Head-on crash kills 2, injures 2 near Mitchell
MITCHELL, Ind. (WISH) — Two people died and two others were airlifted to hospitals after a Friday crash on State Road 37 in southern Lawrence County, the sheriff’s office reports.
Jordon Williams, 32, of Paoli, and Gunther Oberth, 73, of Orleans, died in the crash.
Deputies were called about 10:05 a.m. Friday to a report of a serious two-vehicle crash on State Road 37 near Gun Club Road, south of Mitchell.
Investigators found a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu car, carrying three people, was southbound on State 37 near Gun Club Road while a 2006 Dodge Ram truck with a single occupant was northbound. Williams drove the Chevrolet left of center at an excessive speed to pass an uninvolved vehicle that was turning right from southbound State Road 37 into a private driveway. The state road was marked with a double yellow line as a “no passing zone.”
The Chevrolet crashed head-on with the Dodge, driven by Braighton Ames, 21, of Paoli. The Chevrolet suffered catastrophic damage and came to rest in the middle of State Road 37. He was flown to an Indianapolis hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
The impact sent the Dodge airborne off the right side of the road, where it overturned. Oberth was a backseat passenger. A third person in the Chevrolet, Tanaea Harkness, 28, of Bedford, had to be freed from the car. Harkness was flown to a Louisville hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
State Road 37 reopened about 2 p.m. Friday.
Mitchell, a city of about 3,900, is about a 45-minute drive south of Bloomington.