A 28-year-old Muncie man is dead after the car he was driving struck a guardrail, plowed into a wooded area and rolled over near the Muncie Bypass on Thursday morning. Raymond Crosby was behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla traveling eastbound on Memorial Drive when he lost control west of the bypass off-ramp, according to a preliminary investigation.
Delaware County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to East Memorial Drive near the bypass interchange around 8:55 a.m. Thursday, according to Fox 59. Once there, deputies found that the Corolla had left the roadway, struck a guardrail on the south side of Memorial Drive and continued into a wooded area, the station reported.
A separate report from Yahoo News said Crosby — identified as Raymond Alexander Crosby, 28 — was traveling at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the Corolla. The vehicle struck several trees before overturning and coming to rest on its driver's side, per the same account.
Driver Ejected in Rollover, Officials Say
Investigators believe Crosby was ejected from the vehicle when it overturned, the Yahoo report said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:19 a.m., according to Delaware County Coroner Gavin Greene, who is quoted in that report. The Delaware County Coroner's Office later identified Crosby, and emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene, Fox 59 reported.
The crash remains under investigation by the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, the station noted. No further details on the circumstances behind the loss of control have been released.
Not the First Fatal Ejection in the Area
Ejections during rollover crashes have proven fatal elsewhere in Delaware County before. In Muncie, 69-year-old David M. Flye was partially ejected from an SUV when it overturned during a June 3 crash at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bunch boulevards, and he was pronounced dead, according to the Star Press. In that case, Muncie police said their review of the vehicle's airbag control module led them to believe Flye's seat belt was unbuckled by debris as the SUV rolled over, allowing him to be ejected.
No such determination has been made public in Crosby's case, and the investigation into Thursday's crash on Memorial Drive is ongoing.
