By Staff
EDWARDSBURG -- Chief Kenneth Wray of the Ontwa Township-Edwardsburg Police Department reports his department is involved in the investigation of a fatal traffic crash where a car hit a pedestrian.
The crash occurred at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30 on M-62, just north of Elkhart Road in the Village of Edwardsburg,
The driver of the car, Denise Catazarite, 36, of Edwardsburg, was southbound on M-62 when a man walked out in front of her vehicle.
Witnesses to the accident stated that they did not see the man crossing the road until he appeared in the headlights of Ms. Catazarite who had no time to react.
It appears that he had walked from the East Side of the roadway just south of Taco Bell going tot the West Side of the road and was struck in the center of the southbound land of travel. The driver of the car had not been drinking.
SMACAS Ambulance Service transported the victim after being treated at the scene by the Edwardsburg Area Ambulance. The victim was taken to Lakeland Hospital in Niles and later transferred to South Bend Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The man was identified as a Jonathan Lynn Gearhart, 49, of Edwardsburg. His obituary is in today's paper on page 3.
Chief Wray wants to thank all of the Edwardsburg Firefighters that assisted at the scene with traffic due to the high volume of traffic on that main Roadway.
The crash is still under investigation by the Ontwa Township-Edwardsburg Police Department.