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A Warsaw teen-ager died Tuesday night in a one-car accident on CR 300E. She was the fourth Kosciusko County resident killed on area roads in four days.
Ashley Taylor Sloderbeck, 16, was pronounced dead of extensive head injuries late Tuesday night at Kosciusko Community Hospital.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department was called to the scene north of Old Road 30, near Warsaw, at 10:45 p.m.
Police said that Ryan L. Oler, 18, Pierceton, was driving his mother's car south on CR 300E. According to police reports, Oler was driving at a high rate of speed and apparently lost control of the vehicle.
Oler then reportedly skidded and overcorrected before driving off the road. The car traveled more than 110 feet in a ditch until it hit a utility pole with the passenger side of the car.
Police said Sloderbeck was a backseat passenger in the car and struck the utility pole with her head.
The front seat passenger, Toby D. Jackson, 16, Pierceton, was taken to KCH for head injuries. He was reportedly injured after going through the front windshield. He was later released from the hospital.
Another backseat passenger, Wendy Obooz, 15, Warsaw, also was taken to KCH with head injuries and was treated and released.
Oler was treated at KCH for minor bleeding and later released. He told police none of people in the car was wearing a seat belt.
Police reported alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department is continuing the investigation.
They were assisted at the scene by Multi-Township Emergency Medical Service, Warsaw Fire Department, Warsaw and Winona Lake police departments and Indiana State Police.
Sloderbeck was the fourth traffic accident fatality since Friday night. Three people were killed in their car Friday night at the intersection of Zimmer and Crystal Lake roads, Warsaw. Police expect to file charges today against the driver of the pickup that struck the car.
A total of 11 people have died on Kosciusko County roads so far this year. At this time last year, area police had investigated seven traffic fatalities, with a total of 15 traffic deaths recorded for 1997.
