BY CHARLEE BEASOR
BROWNSBURG
June 26, 2009 02:08 pm
—
One person was killed and three others transported to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash that occurred at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday in the 2400 block of north Raceway Road.
Kristian A. Ophof, 16, of Brownsburg, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was a passenger in a 1998 blue Oldsmobile Intrigue driven by Derek J. Disser, 17, also of Brownsburg.
According to reports of the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department, Disser went off the road on the east side of Raceway Road for unknown reasons. As he attempted to correct the vehicle, he went left of the center into the southbound lane of Raceway Road where his vehicle struck a southbound white 1998 Chrysler Town and Country minivan.
The minivan was driven by 16-year-old Michael N. Boyd. Both he and his passenger, whose name was not available as of press time, were transported by ambulance to Hendricks Regional Health in Danville to be treated for minor injuries.
Disser complained of stomach pain and was transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
Paramedics with Brownsburg Fire Territory began life-saving efforts while firefighters worked to extricate Ophof from the vehicle.
“(Disser) was out of the car, but he still ended up being transported, but he was out of the car prior to our arrival,” Brownsburg Fire Territory Public Information Officer Lt. Ryan Miller said. “(Paramedics) began life-saving efforts, there were two paramedics in or around the vehicle as the firefighters were trying to extricate (Ophof) from the vehicle. She was taken to a waiting ambulance and the helicopter had already landed. They tried to stabilize her if at all possible, and that ended up not being the case.”
Capt. Bryan Tremper of the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department said autopsy results showed cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck and abdomen.
“We don’t expect alcohol to be a part of it, but we did (a toxicology report) and those results can take 10 to 14 days,” Tremper said.
Miller said both lanes of Raceway Road were shut down for a few hours for the accident.
Disser will be a senior at Brownsburg High School, and Ophof would have been as well.
The school corporation moved counseling from Delaware Trail Elementary School to Brownsburg High School Thursday and Friday. Counselors were already available to assist the community in response to a fire that killed 13-year-old Tyler Hensley, and the stabbing death of Angela Warnock. Local clergy have also been invited to be available to community members.
“I think we’re just shell shocked, quite honestly,” said Donna Petraits, director of communications for the Brownsburg Community School Corporation. “Any one of these things is horrible enough, but within a five-day period of time to lose three community members, and it impacted four of our schools.”
Though Brownsburg is a growing community, Petraits said it’s still a small, close-knit town and the community is hurting.
“We have never had a series of circumstances to come anywhere near this,” she said. “This is just unprecedented in this community. Everybody’s feeling it to one degree or another. Even if you didn’t know the families personally, you do peripherally and everybody knows somebody that knows a family member.”
Petraits said memorial funds have been established for both the Hensley family and the Ophof family.
The family of Hensley has requested contributions be made in his name to any National City Bank branch. The family of Ophof has requested that donations be made in her name to Hendricks County Bank and Trust.
For more information about hours that counselors are available, call Brownsburg High School at 852-2258.
charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com
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