FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ind. — The Indiana State Police is investigating a fatal single-vehicle crash that left a man dead in the westbound lanes of I-74 early Tuesday morning in Franklin County.
Deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department and the Batesville Police Department were dispatched around 4 a.m. on Oct. 31 near the 147-mile marker on I-74 to the west of Batesville after receiving reports of a serious crash.
First responders found a damaged semi-truck that had collided with a nearby bridge support. ISP said the driver, identified as 55-year-old Osei K. Boateng of Grove City, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene.
ISP said a preliminary investigation into the cause of the fatal crash revealed that Boateng was operating a 2017 Peterbilt tractor and was pulling a trailer while traveling westbound on I-74. ISP has not yet determined what caused Boateng’s vehicle to exit the left side of the road and cross over the median. The vehicle then crashed into yellow barricades that were placed alongside the Huntersville Road Overpass for protection.
The vehicle ended up next to the bridge support after smashing through the barricades, ISP said.
The westbound lanes were closed for seven hours as ISP crash reconstructionists arrived to investigate.
The crash remains under investigation.
