Published: August 22, 2007 10:20 pm      

1 dead after collision

Marion man killed after driver runs stopsign, police say

A family is in mourning today following the fourth fatal collision on 400 North in the last 17 months.

Jeffery C. Richwine, 35, Marion, died in a wreck involving two Ford F-150 pickup trucks at the intersection of 400 North and 700 East Wednesday afternoon.

Richwine was eastbound on 400 in his 1997 Ford F-150 XLT around 1 p.m. when George J. Manos, 80, Amboy, who was driving south in a 1998 F-150, disregarded the stopsign and pulled into the intersection, according to Senior Trooper Lee Williams of the Indiana State Police.

Richwine’s blue SuperCab left the road and flipped several times along the fenceline on the south side of the road. He was ejected from the truck before it came to rest 170 feet east of the intersection.

He was pronounced dead of head and internal injuries at the scene by Howard County Deputy Coroner George M. Carter.

The Marion man was not wearing his seatbelt. Williams said it likely would have prevented his being ejected.

“He could have saved himself if he’d been wearing his seatbelt,” Howard County Sheriff Marty Talbert said.

Manos was taken by ambulance to Howard Regional Health System with non-life threatening injuries. Williams noted that Manos was wearing a seatbelt, which helped to reduce his injuries.

An off-duty Kokomo police officer was the first person on the scene. There are no major obstructions to visibility at the intersection. There were no witnesses to the accident.

Williams is the lead investigator and was assisted by sheriff deputies. Ambulances from Greentown, Galveston, Converse and Howard Regional responded to the wreck as did Greentown Fire which assisted in the cleanup.

The accident was the fourth that resulted in a fatality on 2 1/2 mile stretch of 400 North between 450 and 700 East in the last 17 months. It was also at least the fifth fatal on the road in the last three years.

There have also been at least two personal injury accidents in that same stretch of road since late March.

John Dempsey may be contacted at (765) 854-6739 or by e-mail at john.dempsey@kokomotribune.com