Man dies, 1 injured in crash on U.S. 24

8/29/2010

TEXAS, Ohio - A Fort Wayne, Ind., man was killed and U.S. 24 was closed for hours Saturday when a car and tractor-trailer rig collided on U.S. 24 near Henry County Road 6C about 2:45 a.m.

Then about 6:30 a.m., a Bowling Green man was injured when his garbage hauler left the roadway on the detour route and overturned.

In the crash on U.S. 24, sheriff's deputies said Kenneth Grieser, 57, was killed when a car in which he was a passenger, driven by Charles Michael Montgomery, 39, of East Lansing, Mich., collided with the rig.

Deputies said Mr. Montgomery was westbound on U.S. 24 when he attempted to pass a westbound rig ahead of him and collided with an eastbound rig driven by Thomas Lee Bruer, 59, of Taylor, Mich.

Mr. Montgomery was taken by medical helicopter to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition Saturday. Mr. Bruer was treated at Henry County Hospital.

U.S. 24 remained closed through the morning as Emergency Management Agency crews cleaned up spilled diesel fuel, deputies said. The highway was open by late afternoon.

In the second crash, the garbage hauler driven by Louis Shaffer, 53, of Bowling Green failed to negotiate a curve on State Rt. 110 - the detour route - just west of County Road 5A. The garbage hauler landed on its side in a soybean field, witnesses said.

Mr. Shaffer was taken by medical helicopter to the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital. A spokesman said there was no information about a patient by that name.