JACKSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Laurelville man was killed early Friday when his car crossed the center line and struck a pickup truck head-on on State Route 104, one of the vehicles briefly catching fire before the flames were put out, according to the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a call reporting a two-vehicle crash on State Route 104, just north of Commercial Point Road, at 6:32 a.m. Friday, Sheriff Matthew O. Hafey said. The initial calls indicated one of the vehicles might be on fire.
Deputies arrived to find a head-on crash in which one vehicle had caught fire, though the flames had been extinguished before they got there, the sheriff’s office said. The Ohio State Highway Patrol arrived a short time later to assist with the investigation.
Deputies determined that James E. Terry III, 40, of Laurelville, was driving a gray 2009 Nissan Versa south on State Route 104 when the car went left of center and struck a 2016 white Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Donald H. Smith, 41, of Williamsport, who was headed north, according to the sheriff’s office.
Both drivers had to be extricated from their vehicles by fire and EMS crews, the sheriff’s office said. Harrison Township Fire and EMS took both men to Grant Medical Center in Columbus.
The sheriff’s office said it later learned that Terry had died at the hospital from injuries suffered in the crash.
Hafey thanked Harrison Township Fire and EMS, Scioto Township Fire and EMS, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol for assisting at the scene.
The crash remains under investigation by the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
