OLMSTED TOWNSHIP — The Milan Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal, two-vehicle crash that occurred Wednesday afternoon on the Ohio Turnpike
According to state troopers, it occurred at about 4 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the turnpike in Olmsted Township.
The Patrol said in a news release that a preliminary investigation found that a 2009 Cadillac Escalade driven by Justin Barker, 31, of North Ridgeville, was eastbound when the vehicle veered off the right side of the roadway. Barker struck a guardrail and a bridge column before spinning back onto the highway and colliding with a 2019 Toyota Corolla operated by Courtney Telep, 37, of Berea.
Barker was pronounced dead at the scene. Telep was uninjured in the collision.
The crash forced authorities to close the right eastbound lane of the Ohio Turnpike for roughly three hours on Wednesday while investigators cleared the scene and processed evidence.
State troopers noted that the cause of the crash remains under active investigation.