May 30—NAPPANEE — Police have identified the driver in a fatal May 24 truck crash Tomahawk Trail in Nappanee. Killed in the crash was Jeffery Kendall, 50, of Nappanee.
The truck caught fire after rolling onto its side on Tomahawk Trail in Nappanee.
Indiana State Police, assisting the Nappanee Police Department and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office, reported at approximately 12:55 a.m. Friday that Nappanee Police Department officers and an Indiana State Trooper responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash on Tomahawk Trail near ATC Trailers .
The tanker truck was destroyed and the sidewalk around it was heavily charred, with the Tomahawk Trail closed in both directions around the site.
A preliminary investigation revealed that a straight truck tanker was traveling south on the Tomahawk Trail when the truck is believed to have veered off the road to the right and lost control, according to a new release from the ISP. When the truck reentered the roadway, the truck rolled to the right side and continued to slide southbound. As the truck slid, it caught fire and spun around, coming to a stop northbound in the northbound lane, the statement said.
Kendall was pronounced dead at the scene by the Elkhart County coroner’s office. The autopsy confirmed that the cause of death was thermal injuries.
The Nappanee Fire Department, Bremen Fire Department and Elkhart Fire Department all responded to control the large fire. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management also responded due to the load of flammable material in the truck.
