EDINBURGH – The Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office has identified the Good Samaritan who died in a Thursday accident on North US 31 near County Road 800 North as 39-year-old Pawel Wierzbicki of Pennsylvania. The cause of death is listed as massive trauma to the lower extremities.
He was killed in a collision on southbound US 31 near the Indiana Premium Outlets Thursday in Edinburgh.
Police reported that two dark-colored pickup trucks were involved in the crash, which was reported at 12:11 p.m. south of County Road 800 North. Traffic on both north and southbound lanes was rerouted onto Executive Way and Presidential Lane to County Road 800 North while first responders. US 31 was reopened to traffic just before 4:00 p.m. Thursday.
An IU Health Lifeline helicopter landed in the northbound lanes of US 31 in front of Truck Service Inc. But Wierzbicki was pronounced dead at the scene.
The sheriff’s department released the name of the motorist driving the pickup that is believed to have struck Wierzbicki as Megan Lucas of North Vernon.
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Dane Duke reports, “Mr. Wierzbicki was on the side of the road assisting a disabled vehicle when, unfortunately, he was struck by another vehicle, which resulted in a fatality.”
A man who witnessed the accident told police the first pickup was hauling a trailer carrying an engine that had fallen off onto the highway. The witness said the victim was struck by the other southbound truck while trying to assist in moving what appeared to be an engine. Social media accounts state the car part was a transmission that had fallen off the trailer.
The Bartholomew County Accident Reconstruction Team is investigating the accident.
