Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
PIERCETON - A Sellers Lake man died Saturday when the car he was driving hit a tree near Pierceton. A passenger in the car suffered minor injuries.
Alcohol and excessive speed are believed to be factors in the accident.
Lance Lee Bailey, 23, of Maplegrove Drive, suffered multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene of the 4:54 p.m. accident at the intersection of CRs 450S and 300E.
According to a Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department report, Bailey was northbound on CR 300E at a high rate of speed when he entered the intersection after failing to stop at the T road. Bailey's car struck a tree, with the impact on the driver's side.
A witness to the accident told police he was northbound on CR 300E stopped at the stop sign when he saw Bailey's vehicle approaching from behind him at a high rate of speed. The witness turned west onto CR 450S and, when he looked into his rearview mirror, saw Bailey's car go through the intersection and hit the tree.
Bailey's passenger, Adam B. Clark, 21, South Woodland Lane, Warsaw, complained of chest pain and was treated at Kosciusko Community Hospital, Warsaw, and released.
Clark told police after the accident that he and Bailey were both consuming alcoholic beverages prior to the accident.
The accident remains under investigation.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department was assisted at the scene by personnel from Winona Lake and Pierceton police departments, Kosciusko County Coroner's Office, Multi-Township and Pierceton emergency medical services and Pierceton Fire Department.
