LPD releases crash report on Thursday collision between truck and pedestrian

Diagram of truck and pedestrian collision in Linton on Thursday, from Linton Police Department Crash Report by LPD Det. Paul Clark.

Failure to yield was determined to be the primary cause of the collision of a truck, owned by Duke Energy, with a pedestrian, Linton Mayor John Wilkes, in Linton on Thursday, August 9.

The collision was investigated by Detective Paul Clark of the Linton Police Department. The LPD released the accident report on Friday afternoon.

The collision occurred at 11:55 a.m. at the intersection of State Roads 54/A Street NW and  SR 59/Main Street in downtown Linton.

Failure to yield was the primary cause and no other contributing circumstances were noted – it happened in daylight in clear weather conditions on a level and dry surface. The intersection does have a traffic light which was operational.

Wilkes was struck by a white 2012 Ford F650 truck owned by Duke Energy in Charlotte, North Carolina, registered to Duke Energy in Plainfield, Indiana.

The driver was Timothy A. Betts, 28, Sullivan, the only occupant of the vehicle.

Det. Clark noted the driver’s physical condition was normal.

Wilkes, 78, Linton, suffered minor bleeding to the head.

No other injuries were reported.

Det. Clark reported Betts said he was facing north on SR 59/Main Street in the left turn lane, waiting for a red light before making a left hand turn onto SR 54/A Street NW. When the light changed, he proceeded through his turn and did not see Wilkes walking in the intersection. Betts believed Wilkes was hit with the right front corner of his vehicle.

Det. Clark said when he talked to Wilkes, he recalled walking north but had no recollection of any of the details of the actual collision. His last memory was when he left the coffee shop a block south of the intersection.

There were three witnesses to the collision, all in the east/west bound lanes of SR 54, all waiting at a red light. They all said Wilkes was walking north in the crosswalk when the truck made the left turn onto SR 54.   

Click here to find previous story on this incident.