A 62-year-old London man is dead after his pickup truck veered off a rural Highland County road, struck a telephone box, crossed back over the road and came to rest in a cut soybean field Saturday afternoon. A juvenile passenger riding with him walked away uninjured.
The Wilmington Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the crash happened around 1:35 p.m. in Penn Township, according to Highland County Press. Troopers said Jeffrey Harris was driving a 1997 Chevrolet pickup west on New Vienna Road near the intersection of Gist Settlement Road when the truck left the roadway.
According to WLWT, police say the pickup veered across the median while heading westbound, struck the telephone box on the left side of the road, then veered back across the road before going off the right side and striking a ditch. The same report states Harris was pronounced dead as first responders from the Clinton-Highland Joint Fire Department arrived at the scene.
Truck Came To Rest In A Harvested Field
The Chevrolet pickup ultimately came to a stop in a cut soybean field adjacent to the roadway, per the Highland County Press account. The juvenile passenger riding along with Harris was not hurt in the crash, the outlet reported.
The crash remains under investigation, and troopers have not released additional details about what caused the truck to leave the road. The Highland County Sheriff's Office and the Highland County Coroner's Office both assisted the Ohio State Highway Patrol at the scene, the same report notes.
Second Highland County Crash Also Under Review
The fatal crash is separate from another recent wreck in Highland County in which a Jeep failed to stop at a stop sign, entered an intersection and was struck by another vehicle, according to WCPO. That collision killed one person and injured three others, and the station reported that the Ohio State Highway Patrol said its investigation into that crash was ongoing.
No further information about Saturday's crash involving Harris had been released as of the latest update from investigators.
