By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
KINGSVILLE — A 19-year-old, possibly intoxicated man was seriously injured Sunday evening when he was struck by an oncoming pickup truck as he attempted to cross Route 193, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reports.
The victim “jumped out of the bushes, jumped over the (roadside) ditch and jogged across the road,” pickup truck driver Gene Brewer said.
“I heard a thump and then he was up on my roof,” Brewer said. “I didn’t have a second to react.”
OHP Trooper Daniel Thayne was dispatched to the scene, where Kingsville emergency medical crews struggled to hold the victim, who was fighting and struggling.
The victim suffered obvious blunt trauma to the head, neck and trunk, witnesses said.
Conneaut Firefighter Wayne Nutter, who was just passing through when he saw the accident, took control of the scene as Thayne was forced to join the EMTs in the struggle to control the victim. Sgt. Jared Sutton raced to the scene, but passed Brewer’s truck and waiting witnesses to help Thayne control the victim, who was enroute by ambulance to Kingsville Elementary for transport by medical helicopter to UH-Conneaut Medical Center.
Witnesses Kristy Hoke and Jamie Wheeler of Cleveland were on their way home from Hoke’s 19th birthday party when they saw the victim run across the road.
“He just shot out, sort of walked out fast and looked at the truck,” Wheeler said. “The guy in front of us (Brewer) wasn’t even speeding. It just happened.”
Diane Romano, who knew the apparent victim as her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, agreed to meet troopers at UH-Conneaut Medical Center to identify the victim, who was incoherent, could not give troopers his full name, and was not carrying identification, Thayne said.
