Man trying to fix a tire killed in turnpike crash

12/11/2002

FREMONT - A man trying to fix the right rear tire on a van that was stopped on the Ohio Turnpike was killed yesterday when he and his van were hit by a tractor trailer. Two other people were hurt, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

The truck pushed the van off the turnpike, the truck jackknifed and blocked all three eastbound lanes, and both vehicles caught fire, troopers at the patrol's Milan post said.

The accident, which occurred in the eastbound lanes just before 4 p.m., forced the shutdown of the entire toll road just east of Fremont, troopers said.

The turnpike reopened for westbound traffic about 21/2 hours later. Eastbound traffic resumed about 8 p.m.

Jose Reynoso, 40, of Painesville, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said.

He was the driver of the van, which was stopped in the right driving lane, troopers said.

Francisco Lemus, also of Painesville, who was a passenger in the van, was struck by the truck while standing near the van's driver's door. He was flown by helicopter to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center with critical injuries, troopers said.

A third person from the van was standing off the side of the road at the time of the accident and was not hurt.

The truck driver, Raymond C. Owen, 61, of Dodgeville, Wis., was treated at Memorial Hospital in Fremont.