NEWS

Man jumps off US 35 to avoid crash, dies in 30-foot fall

Gazette staff
Crews clean up debris from the scene of a multiple vehicle crash involving a jackknifed tractor-trailer Tuesday morning on the westbound U.S. 35 bridge before the Eastern Avenue exit.

CHILLICOTHE – A Jackson man who jumped over a bridge wall on U.S. 35 to avoid being hit by an oncoming tractor-trailer Tuesday died from injuries he suffered in the 30-foot fall, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported.

The incident, which occurred around 6 a.m., followed back-to-back crashes just west of the U.S. 35/U.S. 50 interchange.

The victim in the fall, Christopher D. Stiffler, 34, stopped his disabled 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier partially in the road on the westbound side of U.S. 35 at the Scioto River bridge, the patrol reported.

Charles Peters, 76, of McArthur, who was driving a 1995 Ford Escort, and Andrew Smith, 35, of Chillicothe, who was driving a 2007 Chrysler Town & Country minivan, both swerved to avoid hitting the Cavalier and ended up striking each other's vehicles as well as Stiffler's, the patrol reported.

Peters sustained a minor cut; Smith did not report any injuries.

The second crash involved four vehicles traveling westbound on U.S. 35: a 2003 GMC Sierra driven by Virgil Peoples, 35; a 1999 International tractor-trailer driven by James L. Ostrander, 54, of Jackson; and a 2007 Honda Civic driven by Tony Hatfield, 48, of Chillicothe.

Ohio Highway Patrol investigate the scene of a multiple vehicle crash involving a jackknifed tractor-trailer Tuesday morning on the westbound U.S. 35 bridge before the Eastern Avenue exit.

Ostrander reportedly lost control of the tractor-trailer, striking the Civic and the Town & County minivan disabled in the first crash. The van was then pushed off the left side of the road, causing it to hit the Sierra, which had stopped so the driver could assist victims from the first crash, the patrol reported.

Hatfield was taken to Adena Regional Medical Center with minor injuries and later released. Ostrander was not injured.

It was at the time of the second crash that Stiffler, who was standing on the left side of the road, jumped over a bridge wall to avoid being hit by the tractor-trailer, Sgt. D.M. Hutton said.

Stiffler fell 30 feet to the ground below and was taken to Adena, where he died from his injuries, Hutton said.

The crashes and Stiffler's fall remain under investigation by the Chillicothe post of the patrol.

Motorists on westbound U.S. 35 sit at a standstill due to a multiple vehicle crash Tuesday morning involving a jackknifed tractor-trailer.

The Ohio Department of Transportation confirmed just before noon that U.S. 35 westbound had reopened to traffic after being closed for several hours. The tractor-trailer jackknifed, causing it to leak fuel on the highway.

Westbound U.S. 35 motorists sat for hours on the highway due to a multiple vehicle crash Tuesday morning involving a jackknifed tractor-trailer.

Cleanup, including getting the jackknifed truck cleared and the diesel fuel removed, took most of the morning. The crash and subsequent road closure created traffic problems because, according to ODOT, there was no viable local detour. Motorists, particularly heavy truck or tractor-trailer drivers, were being advised to detour via Ohio 32 and U.S. 23 at Piketon.

Several emergency crews, the patrol and ODOT representatives were called the scene.