SYRACUSE – A Cromwell woman was killed Monday morning south of Syracuse on Ind. 13 in a three-vehicle crash.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputies and emergency personnel responded to a 911 call at 10:43 a.m. Monday in reference to a three-vehicle personal injury crash south of the Wawasee Middle School. Officers and personnel arrived to find a 2000 Honda mini-van crushed against a high voltage utility pole by a dump truck.
Parkview Samaritan helicopter arrived at the scene as the Syracuse EMS and Fire Department extricated the driver of the van. Due to the severity of injuries, the Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office pronounced Shareese T. Hollar, 27, of 12033 N. Raggedy Ann Road, Cromwell, dead at the scene from multiple blunt force trauma.
The Kosciusko County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team investigation determined that Hollar was stopped in traffic facing southbound on Ind. 13 by an Indiana Department of Transportation flagman.
Hollar’s vehicle was behind a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by Amy Lynn Richards, 19, of 18 EMS D18 Lane, Syracuse. According to Richards, the state highway flagman had just turned the warning sign from “stop” to “slow” and she had just begun to start to move when her vehicle was struck from behind.
FACT investigators determined that at that point, a 1999 Kenworth tri-axle dump truck, driven by Stephen G. Stickel, 56, of 25224 CR 32, Goshen, slammed into the rear of Hollar’s vehicle, pushing it into Richards’ SUV. Stickel’s dump truck continued pushing Hollar’s van off the west side of Ind. 13 and into a NIPSCO utility pole. Richards and Stickel were reportedly not injured in the crash.
Kosciusko County FACT team members stated that they are waiting on legal blood draw results from the drivers and that the crash remains under investigation at this time.
The Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office and FACT. team were assisted at the scene by the Syracuse/Turkey Creek EMS and Fire Department, Syracuse Police Department, North Webster Police Department, Indiana State Police and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.
