Two killed in separate weekend crashes on Route 14 in Streetsboro and Deerfield
Portage County authorities are investigating two fatal crashes on Route 14 over the weekend, one in Streetsboro on Saturday and the other in Deerfield on Sunday.
Streetsboro Police Chief Tricia Wain said Monday that city safety forces were called at about 2:39 p.m. Saturday for a 2014 Kia Soul that had crashed head on into a semi-truck pulling a trailer in front of All Seasons RV, just southeast of Portage Pointe Drive. Wain said the Kia was traveling northwest at the time and the truck was southeast bound.
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"The driver of the Kia Soul started going left of center," Wain said. "The semi driver and witnesses saw this. The semi driver slowed and tried to pull over as much as you can a semi and unfortunately the driver the Kia Soul still continued and struck the semi head on."
Wain said the Streetsboro Fire Department freed the trapped Kia's driver, Patricia Jamison, 67, of Cleveland Heights, from the car and paramedics performed CPR on her at the scene. EMS then took her to University Hospitals Portage Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
There were no reported injuries to the truck driver, a 58-year-old Mentor man. Wain said his involvement in the crash has been investigated.
"They did call for state highway patrol commercial vehicle inspector to come out to check the [truck], but there's no indication, evidence or even thought that the truck driver's in any any way, shape or form at fault," Wain said. "It's more just standard practice."
Wain said it is unknown why the Kia went left of center.
"We won't know until we get the final medical report whether there was some kind of medical event that led up to it, but there was no evasive action [by Jamison]," she said.
Wain said the Summit Metro Crash Response Team, which includes members of various area police departments, is investigating the crash. The Streetsboro Police Department currently has two officers who are team members and is expected to add a third at the end of summer.
The road was completely closed until 6:20 p.m. while the vehicles were being removed.
Man killed in Deerfield crash
A Deerfield man was killed in a single-vehicle crash on Route 14, near Notman Road in Deerfield, early Sunday morning, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol media release issued on Monday.
The highway patrol said troopers and Deerfield EMS responded to a serious injury crash at about 1:14 a.m. and discovered that a westbound 2007 Ford Focus had gone off the right side of the road and struck a ditch, where it overturned.
The Ford's driver, Ernest Spencer, 65, was pronounced dead at the scene. He id not appear to have been wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, the highway patrol said.
The crash remains under investigation, the highway patrol said. The Portage County Sheriff's Office and the Portage County Prosecutor's Office also responded to the scene.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Woman and man killed in weekend Route 14 crashes in Portage County
