Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputies and emergency personnel investigate a fatal crash at the intersection of U.S. 30 and S.R. 19 early Monday, June 26, 2017. Truck driver Palys told officers he might have fallen asleep before impact. (Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department)
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) A South Whitley woman was killed early Monday when her SUV was rear-ended by a semi along U.S. 30 in Kosciusko County.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputies and emergency personnel were called at 3:40 a.m. Monday on a report of a crash at the intersection of U.S. 30 and S.R. 19. Crews arrived to find a woman pinned inside a 2015 Chevy Traverse.
The Kosciusko County coroner arrived and pronounced 52-year-old Vicki Sue Bartz of South Whitley dead at the scene.
A Kosciusko County Fatal Team reconstructionist found that Bartz was stopped at the S.R. 19 red light in the westbound lanes of U.S. 30 when a 2015 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer driven by Waldemar A. Palys of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, rear-ended her SUV “at highway speed.” Investigators said Palys might have fallen asleep before the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Kosciusko County, Ind. (WNDU) -- A woman has died after a semi rear-ended her vehicle in Kosciusko County early Monday morning.
Police say just after 3:30 a.m., 52-year-old Vicki Bartz of South Whitley was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of U.S. 30 and S.R. 19 near Etna Green. That’s when they believe a semi driver, Waldemar Palys of Pennsylvania, crashed into her at highway speed.
Palys told officers he might have fallen asleep before impact. Bartz was pinned inside of her vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash remains under investigation.
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By 1st Sgt. Chad D. Hill, Public Information Officer
ETNA GREEN — Kosciusko County officials are currently investigating a vehicular traffic crash on U.S. 30 near the town of Etna Green that has left a South Whitley woman dead.
Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputies and emergency personnel responded this morning at 3:40 a.m. to a reported vehicular crash located at the intersection of U.S. 30 and State Road 19. Responders located the driver of a 2015 Chevy Traverse, identified as Vicki Sue Bartz, 52, South Whitley, pinned inside her vehicle. Lutheran E.M.S. paramedics requested the Kosciusko County Coroner Office who arrived and pronounced Bartz deceased from blunt force trauma injuries.
Kosciusko County Fatal Team reconstructionist stated that a preliminary investigation into the crash has determined that Bartz had been traveling westbound on U.S. 30, when she had stopped for a traffic light at the intersection of State Road 19. A 2015 Freightliner semi-tractor/trailer, driven by Waldemar A. Palys, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, was also westbound on U.S. 30 in the same roadway lane and collided into the rear of the Bartz vehicle at highway speed. K.C.S.D. investigators stated that Palys believed that he might have fallen asleep prior to impact.
Officers stated that the crash is still currently under investigation. The Kosciusko County Fatal Team was assisted at the scene by members of the Etna Green Fire Department, Lutheran E.M.S., and the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department.