Man who died in crash near Rupp Arena identified. Another man badly hurt.
One man has died and another has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a single vehicle crashed into a utility pole in downtown Lexington early Friday morning.
Police responded to the area of West High Street and Oliver Lewis Way around 2:45 a.m. for a report of a crash involving one vehicle. Responding officers found one man dead and another seriously hurt, according to Lt. Ronald Keaton. The injured man was taken to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.
The Fayette County coroner’s office responded to the scene for the man who had died and identified him Friday afternoon as Ralph Hirwa, 20. He was a passenger in the vehicle, the coroner’s office said.
The Lexington Police Department’s Collision Reconstruction Unit was called to the scene to investigate, Keaton said. They’re working to determine what caused the crash.
West High Street was still closed around 6:45 a.m. so investigators could work. It didn’t reopen until about 9:20 a.m., according to the Lexington Traffic Management Center.
Herald-Leader reporter Karla Ward contributed to this report.
