Trucker dies in rollover wreck in Erie Co.

12/25/2005

SANDUSKY - A Cleveland trucker died yesterday morning after the tractor-trailer rig he was driving in Erie County's Groton Township crashed into an embankment and rolled over him after he had been ejected from it, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

The man was identified as James R. Sullivan, 55. He was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene by Erie County Coroner Dr. Brian Baxter, troopers said.

The state patrol's post in Sandusky said the accident occurred at 2:07 a.m. along State Rt. 4 south of Mason Road. Investigators determined the commercial tractor-trailer was heading north on State Rt. 4, drifted off the right side of the road, went through a ditch, and then hit the embankment.

A passenger, Calvin K. Bernes, 51, of Eastlake, Ohio, also was not wearing a seat belt. He refused treatment at the scene, authorities said.