The driver of a mini-van is dead after his vehicle and an Allen County Sheriff deputy's vehicle collided on Dupont Road.
Two other van passengers and the officer involved also sustained injuries.
Sheriff's officials say Officer Mark Sickafoose was responding to an incident-- going east on Dupont with his lights and sirens on-- when his car t-boned the white van in the Diebold Road intersection.
The crash closed Dupont Road for several hours this morning-- and witnesses describe the scene as horrific.
"It was a lot of chaos out there... It was definitely a bad accident," says witness Wendy Souder.
Souder says she ran outside just after the crash happened.
She says an Allen County Sheriff's car had t-boned the driver's side of a white van in the Dupont Road-Diebold Road intersection.
"There was a county police car, and it's hood was damaged. I mean, what I could see. And then, I see later, you could see the white car and the side was smashed in," Souder says.
Sheriff's officials say Sickafoose was going east, with sirens on and lights flashing-- on his way to an incident on nearby Tonkel Road.
The van was turning left from Diebold Road-- when Sickafoose struck the driver's side.
The male van driver was initially listed in critical condition-- and later died.
Law enforcement has not yet released his identity.
However, the van was owned by "Unity Transportation"-- they say the driver was an employee of theirs-- and confirmed his death this afternoon.
Two female passengers, an adult, listed in serious condition, and a juvenile, had minor injuries.
Sickafoose had minor injuries from the crash.
"With it involving an officer and the officer being on-duty, and of course he was going to a scene, of course that is going to be further investigated," says Allen County Sheriff's Department Corporal Jeremy Tinkel.
Tinkel says Sickafoose has worked for Allen County since 2004, and has a clean record with the department.
He says they do not know the traffic-light situation at the intersection, nor how fast the vehicles were going.
Two other van passengers and the officer involved also sustained injuries.
Sheriff's officials say Officer Mark Sickafoose was responding to an incident-- going east on Dupont with his lights and sirens on-- when his car t-boned the white van in the Diebold Road intersection.
The crash closed Dupont Road for several hours this morning-- and witnesses describe the scene as horrific.
"It was a lot of chaos out there... It was definitely a bad accident," says witness Wendy Souder.
Souder says she ran outside just after the crash happened.
She says an Allen County Sheriff's car had t-boned the driver's side of a white van in the Dupont Road-Diebold Road intersection.
"There was a county police car, and it's hood was damaged. I mean, what I could see. And then, I see later, you could see the white car and the side was smashed in," Souder says.
Sheriff's officials say Sickafoose was going east, with sirens on and lights flashing-- on his way to an incident on nearby Tonkel Road.
The van was turning left from Diebold Road-- when Sickafoose struck the driver's side.
The male van driver was initially listed in critical condition-- and later died.
Law enforcement has not yet released his identity.
However, the van was owned by "Unity Transportation"-- they say the driver was an employee of theirs-- and confirmed his death this afternoon.
Two female passengers, an adult, listed in serious condition, and a juvenile, had minor injuries.
Sickafoose had minor injuries from the crash.
"With it involving an officer and the officer being on-duty, and of course he was going to a scene, of course that is going to be further investigated," says Allen County Sheriff's Department Corporal Jeremy Tinkel.
Tinkel says Sickafoose has worked for Allen County since 2004, and has a clean record with the department.
He says they do not know the traffic-light situation at the intersection, nor how fast the vehicles were going.
