Head-on collision kills 3

A local man and two University of Illinois students were killed from injuries they suffered in a head-on crash Sunday afternoon on County Road 350 S. just west of Concord Road in Lafayette.

At 2:45 p.m., Lafayette police said a pickup truck traveling east on 350 S. crossed the center line and crashed head-on into an oncoming car. On impact, the pickup became airborne and knocked the Toyota Camry 30 feet into the grass along the westbound lane. The pickup then rolled onto its side and burst into flames.

The driver, a local man, died on the way to the hospital. The driver of the car, a University of Illinois student, was pronounced dead at the scene and his passenger, a 24-year-old female fellow student, died later at St. Elizabeth Medical Center.

According to Tippecanoe County Coroner Martin Avolt, the parents of the passenger witnessed the horrific crash. "The girl's parents were in the car immediately preceding," Avolt said. The names of the victims were not being released until relatives had been contacted.

Witnesses said the pickup driver crossed the center line and clipped one car, then overcorrected, veered out around another oncoming car, then swerved back across the center line into the path of the oncoming car. The Illinois woman's parents were in the middle car. Pat Harrington of Lafayette and his wife and daughter were in the first car that was clipped by the pickup.

"There was a man in a pickup truck. He came directly at us. I swerved as hard as I could to get right. He was going extremely fast," Harrington said.

Lafayette police officer Shawn Sherry was the first officer at the scene. Sherry said excessive speed may have been a factor. Witnesses in front of Harrington reported that the driver of the pickup appeared to be reaching for something. Harrington said he could see that the driver was not looking at the road when he crossed the center line.

"When he came at me he was leaning toward the right. I thought the guy was having a heart attack." Harrington felt the pickup graze the side of his Volvo, causing scratches and breaking off the antenna, then slowed down to see what happened next.

Harrington said he saw all four wheels of the pickup come off the ground upon impact. "I doubt he even hit his brakes. It all happened so fast.

It was a terrible collision," Harrington said. As soon as the vehicles came to rest, Harrington and several witnesses ran to the scene to help. Police said several men who had been driving behind the Camry pulled the pickup driver from his vehicle just before it exploded.

"(There were) three or four men a couple pushed the truck up and then the other two grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him out," Harrington said.

Avolt said the pickup driver was not wearing a seat belt and was partially ejected from the truck. Soon after the man was removed from the truck, the vehicle exploded, sending flames 30 to 40 feet in the air, according to witnesses.

Sherry said the Lafayette Fire Department had the fire under control in less than 10 minutes, but the damage to the truck was extensive and all registration was destroyed, making identification of the victim difficult.

The car's occupants were pinned in the car and firefighters had to pry back the roof of the car to remove them.

AT THE SCENE: Evidence technician Jeff Davis photographs the scene of an accident on County Road 350 S. near Concord Road in Lafayette on Sunday afternoon. Three people died from injuries suffered in the head-on crash. By Amy Bombassaro/Journal and Courier