Entire stretch of Ohio 235 sees lots of crashes, says fire captain following double fatal Champaign County crash

Two people were killed in a crash involving a work van and a semi truck near Christiansburg on Tuesday.

The victims were identified as Andrew E. Gee, 36 of Troy and Rashelle Karr, 38 also of Troy.

According to a release from the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, the 2005 GMC Savanna work van that Gee was driving Tuesday morning, was travelling west on Old Troy Pike when he ran a stop sign and collided with a semi that was travelling south on Ohio 235.

Capt. Dan Welty of the Christiansburg Fire Department said the van was then drug by the semi and was left out on the roadway.

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The semi and the van ended up over a football field’s length away from each other after the impact. Welty said Gee and Karr were ejected from the van and pronounced dead at the scene.

“Driving 55 miles an hour, a semi like that probably weighs 40,000 pounds, just (doesn’t) stop on a dime,” he said.

The sheriff’s office said neither Gee, Karr or the driver of the semi truck were wearing seat belts.

Signage on the van indicated it belonged to Liberty Services, Inc., a kitchen exhaust and hood cleaning service that operates out of West Milton.

Welty said the semi was travelling at a normal rate of speed, but the sheriff’s office will be investigating how fast the van was going. The semi was not carrying anything in the back of it at the time of the crash.

It’s not the first time this has happened — Welty said the entire stretch of Ohio 235 sees a lot crashes.

“Actually there was a fatal accident here five years ago, car run the stop sign, hit by a semi — almost five years ago next week,” he said.

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The crash that Welty referenced killed 61-year-old Josephine Group, of Urbana in 2013. Group was going east on Old Troy Pike when she pulled in front of a semi that was travelling north on Ohio 235.

Group’s PT Cruiser was left crumpled in a grassy area, and there was significant damage to the front end of the semi.

In June, 13-year-old Sky Lhamon was killed in a nearby crash on Ohio 235 when the minivan she was driving went left of center and into the path of a semi. Lhamon was living in a foster home in Shelby County and had taken her foster mom’s minivan, according to Shelby County Department of Job and Family Services. Lhamon was headed north on Ohio 235 north of New Carlisle around 9 p.m. on June 7 when she crashed head-on into the semi, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Springfield Post.

Lhamon was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the semi sustained minor injuries.

Although it was raining on Tuesday morning, Welty doesn’t believe weather to be a factor in the crash. He urged drivers to focus on the road when they’re behind the wheel.

“(Ohio) 235 down through here is straight, flat and I think people probably get a little complacent with it,” he said.

Frank Jackson has lived nearby on Old Troy Pike for close to eight years and said that Ohio 235 is constantly busy.

“Heavy, lots and lots of semis,” he said. “Nothing to obstruct your view, but I guess they’re just not paying attention.”

The driver of the semi was identified as Edgar Lowe, 51 of Mechanicsburg. Welty said Lowe was taken to a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries and was released.

Welty said the Champaign County reconstruction team will work to recreate the accident to determine more details. The crash remains under investigation, according to a media release.

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