The South Whitley man who struck a deer head-on with his mo-ped earlier this month has died.
Dennis M. Spurling, 43, of South Whitley, died just before 9:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, the Allen County Coroner’s Office confirmed. Deputy Coroner Michael Burris said Spurling died of blunt force trauma to the head suffered as a result of the Sept. 9 crash.
Just before 6 a.m. that day, Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department deputies and medics were called to County Road 900 East, just north of U.S. 30, after a passerby found a man sprawled out on the roadway.
Emergency personnel arrived to find Spurling suffering from a severe head injury and unconscious, the sheriff’s department said. He was airlifted to Lutheran Hospital in critical condition.
Spurling was not wearing a helmet.
The Kosciusko County Fatal Alcohol Crash Team said Spurling had been southbound on CR 900E on his red mo-ped and possibly struck a crossing deer. Police did not find a deer, but found deer hair and similar evidence near the crash, investigators said.
Investigators had said that alcohol may have played a role in the crash, but were awaiting results from a blood draw from Spurling. Those results have not yet been returned, the sheriff’s department said this morning.
