Published: August 19, 2008 12:02 pm      

Bunker Hill man injured in crash

PERU — A two-vehicle crash that left one man injured also closed down a highway for two hours.

About 11:43 a.m. Monday, police responded to a wreck that injured a Bunker Hill man at U.S. 31 and Miami County Road 100N.

A preliminary investigation revealed that 58-year-old Terry L. Dean of Bunker Hill was driving a 2006 Dodge pickup truck owned by SM&P Utility Resources northbound on U.S. 31. Dean was stopped for a red light when his truck was rear-ended by a 2006 International tractor trailer driven by 36-year-old Alan M. Watkins of Walkerton. The tractor trailer, owned by Deans Transportation, was pulling an empty box trailer.

Dean was taken by ambulance to Dukes Memorial Hospital with a complaint of pain and cuts to his head.

“This was a high impact crash,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Rick Brown said in a press release. “It serves as another example of safety restraints reducing the severity of injuries in a crash that could have been a fatality if both drivers had not taken the time to buckle their seat belts.”

Northbound U.S. 31 was closed for about two hours.