Semi hits men riding mower 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Semi hits men riding mower
Goshen area resident killed; other rider hurt, released from hospital
BRISTOL -- One man was killed and another injured when they were riding a Ranch King lawn mower on Indiana 15 at 2:37 a.m. Sunday and were struck by a semi-truck.
James L. Arthur Jr., 23, of County Road 27 near Goshen, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Elkhart County Deputy Coroner John White.
Arthur was on the lawn mower with David C. Bartley, 22, of Broadmore Estates. Both were thrown from the lawn mower upon impact.
Bartley was treated at Goshen General Hospital for injuries to his right knee but was later released.
Elkhart County police said that the men on the mower were southbound on Indiana 15, north of U.S. 20. Cecil D. Miller, 60, of Akron, was southbound on Indiana 15 in his 1995 Volvo semi-truck.
The mower had no lights or reflectors, police said, and was traveling down the center of Indiana 15. Miller told police that he saw the men at the last minute and struck the rear end of the mower.
Police said Bartley had a blood-alcohol count of 0.233, almost three times the legal limit. White said toxicology tests will be done on Arthur at the autopsy.
Police have not determined who was driving the lawn mower at the time of the accident.
Arthur and his wife, Dawn, were expecting their second child in October. He is also survived by a daughter, Payge, at home.
Arthur's mother-in-law, Pat Levitz of Goshen, said that earlier in the evening Arthur had taken his daughter fishing. "He was a devoted father," Levitz said.
Levitz said that her daughter was 16 years old when she married Arthur.
"He put her through nursing school," Levitz said. Dawn Arthur is now a licensed practical nurse. "You couldn't ask for a better husband and father," Levitz said.
Levitz said she loved her son-in-like like a son. "He was my son," she said, and he liked doing "goofy things because he was young."
About the accident, Levitz said, "If he was here now, he would say, 'Boy, that was a dumb thing to do.' " Submitted on 05/12/2003
Submitted by:
Lori Colyer
Reference:
South Bend Tribune 5/12/2003
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
|
