Alcohol suspected a ‘factor’ in fatal Wayne County crash; driver arrested
Troopers believe alcohol was a factor in the crash.
A driver from southwest Ohio was arrested after a single-vehicle crash killed a passenger in Wayne County overnight Sunday, state troopers said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol officers received an iPhone crash notification on Hackett Road in the area of South Millborne Road just east of the village of Apple Creek in Wayne County. Troopers say the crash happened around 12:30 a.m.
According to the highway patrol, a gray 2020 Ford F-250 Super Duty pick-up truck was driving east on Hackett Road from Apple Creek when it lost control on the icy road. The truck “rotated off the left side of the road, struck the ditch, and overturned onto its right side,” troopers said in a release.
Neither the driver of the truck nor its two passengers were wearing seatbelts, troopers said. One passenger was uninjured but the right rear passenger, identified as Hannah Eve Baird from Big Prairie in Holmes County, sustained serious injuries.
Baird was taken to a Wooster hospital after medics attempted life-saving efforts on the scene. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police say the driver of the truck was arrested at the scene because troopers believe “alcohol was a factor in the crash.”
“The actions and the events that led to the death of Baird remain under investigation with charges pending,” the highway patrol said.
According to the highway patrol, this was the first fatal crash in Wayne County this year. Over the past five years, driver impairment has caused 55% of traffic deaths and 43% of unbelted occupants in crashes have been killed.
