MENTONE – The name of the driver involved in a pickup truck/train fatality crash in Mentone last night has been released.
Joseph A. Kimmel, 40, of Akron, has been identified as the fatality victim from last night’s vehicle crash in Mentone, according to Kosciusko County Deputy Coroner Michael Wilson. Wilson stated that Kimmel appears to have died from blunt force trauma.
A preliminary investigation of the crash by Kosciusko County F.A.C.T. team reconstructionist determined that Kimmel had attempted to turn southbound onto State Road 19 (Franklin Street) from State Road 25 (Main Street), when his pickup truck went off the paved portion of the crossing and became stuck on the train track rails. The pickup truck was then struck by an eastbound Norfolk Southern freight train.
The Kosciusko County F.A.C.T. team was assisted by the Mentone Police and Fire Departments, Mentone/Four-Way E.M.S., Parkview E.M.S., and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.
