(BARTHOLOMEW CO.) – Indiana State Police report a woman was hit and killed by a semi after walking into traffic on I-65 in Bartholomew County.
The crash happened just after 3:30 a.m. Monday in the middle of a 14-mile construction zone about five miles south of Columbus.
Police believe 31-year-old Jarlene Hargrove, of Cincinnati, Ohio, drove her SUV through a gap in a temporary concrete barrier wall and got her vehicle stuck in the muddy median of the interstate.
Indiana State Police Sergeant Stephen Wheeles says investigators don’t know why Hargrove walked away from her car and into traffic.
When Hargrove walked onto the interstate, she was struck by a southbound tractor-trailer driven by 49-year-old James Gause Jr., from Marion, South Carolina.
Gause’s semi was then hit from behind by another semi driven by 44-year-old Christopher A. House from Bardstown, Kentucky. Neither Gause nor House were injured.
The Bartholomew County Coroner says Hargrove died at the scene from blunt force injuries.
The investigation is ongoing and toxicology tests were pending for Hargrove and the truck drivers.
Southbound I-65 reopened after being closed for nearly three hours following the crash.
