A 46-year-old Bluffton man died Saturday evening after his pickup truck ran off a rural road in Bath Township, struck a parked car, flipped several times and slammed into two trees. Nathan Ulrey was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The Lima Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol responded to the single-vehicle crash on Sandusky Road at about 5:30 p.m. on November 7, 2026, according to the Bluffton Icon. Troopers say Ulrey was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado west on Sandusky Road when the truck left the right side of the roadway, struck a parked car, overturned multiple times and hit two trees, as first reported by the Shelby News Reporter.
Patrol officials said Ulrey was not wearing his safety belt and was thrown from the vehicle in the crash. He was pronounced deceased at the scene, per the same account. The Silverado sustained severe damage and was hauled away by A and D Towing, which also assisted at the scene alongside Bath Township Fire, Bath Township EMS, the Allen County Coroner's Office and Allen County Mortuary Services.
Body Transported Out of County
Allen County Mortuary Services transported Ulrey's body to the Montgomery County Morgue, the station's report notes. As of the report, the crash remained under investigation, with no additional details released on what caused the truck to leave the roadway.
The crash adds to what has already been a grim stretch on Allen County roads. A report on countywide traffic fatalities found that 2025 was the county's second-deadliest year for traffic deaths in the past decade, according to LimaOhio.com. Fifteen people died in 13 fatal crashes across the county last year, up from nine deaths in 2024, the outlet reported.
Bath Township's Toll in a Deadly Year
That same report found alcohol use was attributed as a cause in six of the county's fatal accidents in 2025. Bath Township itself recorded one single-fatality traffic accident that year, among several townships — including Jackson, Marion, Monroe, Richland and Sugar Creek — that each saw one fatal crash, per LimaOhio.com's reporting.
