A Garda armored truck veered left of center on Kinsman Road in Newbury Township Tuesday, colliding head on with a dump truck, said an eyewitness…
A Garda armored truck veered left of center on Kinsman Road in Newbury Township Tuesday, colliding head on with a dump truck, said an eyewitness at the scene.
Steve Sparks, of Bainbridge Township, said the driver of the armored truck was going too fast for road conditions moments before the crash.
“I was pulling out of Munn (Road), right by the Ramble Inn, heading east on (state Route) 87,” he said.
About a quarter-of-a-mile down the road, Sparks said he looked into his rearview mirror because he saw some motion in it.
“I saw that (Garda) truck starting to brake and start to yaw into the other lane,” Sparks explained. “I just happened to notice movement and I looked into the back, and all of a sudden, I saw this truck approaching — fast — and then he slammed on his brakes and then started to yaw into the other lane and that’s when the dump truck struck him.”
Sparks drove a little farther east on Route 87, turned into Van Ness Stone and called 911.
When asked if the driver of the armored vehicle was braking because the truck was approaching Sparks’ car too fast, he answered, “Yep.”
“So, in my summation, what happened is he was just traveling way too fast, came over that crest and there I was,” Sparks added.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Bobbie Jean Phillips, 25, of Cleveland, was driving the 2000 Ford F-650 armored car, owned by Garda CL Great Lakes, eastbound on Route 87. Andrew Housholder, 37, of Roaming Shores, Ohio, was driving a 2004 International dump truck westbound on Route 87 when the armored car lost control on the wet roadway, rotated and crossed the center line, striking the dump truck.
“The dump truck was forced off the roadway, spilling its load of gravel,” said Lt. B.A. Zemelka in a statement. “A fire resulted from the collision and leaking diesel fuel. The fire was extinguished by two employees from a local business using a fire extinguisher.”
Both vehicle had one passenger. The armored car’s passenger was Delano Harris, 35, of Euclid. The dump truck passenger was Charles Rohr, 24, of Chardon.
Housholder had to be extricated from the dump truck using the “jaws of life.”
Both he and Rohr were taken to Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights with serious injuries, the patrol said, adding Phillips and Harris were taken to UH?Geauga Medical Center with minor injuries.
No one received burns as a result of the fire, the patrol said.
Hillcrest Hospital spokeswoman Angie Smith said Tuesday they could not release information on the status of Phillips or Rohr at that time.
Route 87 in Newbury Township recently had been resurfaced and Tuesday was the first day it had rained since the asphalt was applied, according to the Geauga County Engineer’s Office.
An oily sheen was clearly visible on that section of the roadway and Route 87 was closed for roughly four hours due to clean up and oil spilled on the roadway, the patrol said.
Fire departments and rescue squads from Newbury, Middlefield, Auburn, Russell, Chester and Burton provided mutual aid.
