Fatality ID’d in crash on Old U.S. 35 in Greene

UPDATE @ 5:10 a.m. (June 3):

Troopers have identified the man killed in Tuesday afternoon’s crash as James R. Smith, 49, of Lynchburg, Ohio. Smith was the driver of the red Jeep that ran a stop sign at Rosemoor Road and Old U.S. 35.

Troopers also say Smith and four other passengers in the Jeep were all not wearing seat belts and ejected from the vehicle in the crash.

It is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor at the time of the crash.

UPDATE @ 10:51 p.m. (June 2): All six victims injured in the two-vehicle T-bone accident on Old U.S. 35 are expected to survive, according to a sergeant with the Ohio Highway Patrol post at Xenia. He noted that their conditions were not available.

The names and ages of the victims, including the male who was killed, have not been released, the sergeant said.

He said investigators have determined that the red Jeep, in which the fatality was a passenger or the driver, was at fault because the driver did not obey a stop sign at Old U.S.35 and Rosemoor Road. Rosemoor becomes Bryan Road once a vehicle crosses Old U.S. 35.

UPDATE @ 10:02 p.m.: Old U.S. 35 and Bryan Road have been reopened to traffic following the the two-vehicle T-bone accident that left one male dead and six injured.

UPDATE @ 5:35 p.m.: The fatality in the two-vehicle T-bone accident is a male, but crash investigators with the Ohio Highway Patrol are not yet sure whether he was driving or a passenger in one of the vehicles.

Six other victims — four from a red Jeep that included the fatality and two from a black car — have been taken to hospitals by MedFlight and ground ambulances, said Lt. Douglas Eck, with the OSP post in Xenia. The conditions of the victims are not known.

Eck said investigators are trying to determine which vehicle was in the 7000 block of Old U.S. 35 and which one was on Bryan Road when the accident occurred. The vehicle on Bryan had a stop sign.

Speed and alcohol use are being investigated as a part of the accident, he said.

One of the vehicles hit a power pole, and a Dayton Power & Light crew is on scene to repair or replace the pole. Power in the area had to be shut off in order to get that done.

Eck said U.S. 35 will be closed in both directions at least another hour.

FIRST REPORT

A fatal accident with several injuries has been reported in the 7000 block of Old U.S. 35 in the area of Bryan Road.

The accident was reported about 4:30 p.m. and a dispatcher with the Ohio Highway Patrol tells us the road has been shut down in both directions.

We’re hearing there are as many as four other victims in this accident, in addition to the fatality.

News Center 7’s Kate Bartley and a videographer are on the way to the scene. We will update this report as we get information. We’ll also update this story on our 5 p.m. broadcast.