A Canton man was killed Friday afternoon in a multi-vehicle crash involving two SUVs and a semi-truck hauling a crane on State Route 151 in Harrison County, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The crash occurred around 3:27 p.m. near milepost 2 in Monroe Township. Troopers from the Steubenville Post are handling the investigation.
According to investigators, 25-year-old Carolyn Sanderlin of Minerva was driving a black 2005 GMC Yukon XL westbound on SR-151 while towing a loaded utility trailer. Behind her, 38-year-old Randy Reed Jr., also of Minerva, was driving a red 2006 Chevrolet Suburban, also towing a loaded utility trailer.
Traveling eastbound on SR-151 was a 2026 Peterbilt semi-truck operated by 46-year-old Thomas Kirkland of Marion Center, Pennsylvania. The truck was hauling a flatbed trailer loaded with a 100,000-pound crane.
Troopers said Sanderlin’s GMC lost control, swerving across the centerline and off the left edge of the road. In an attempt to avoid a collision, the eastbound semi veered to the right but struck the left side of the GMC’s trailer. The semi then sideswiped a concrete bridge parapet wall and jackknifed across both lanes of the highway.
The semi, pushed by its heavy load, collided with Reed’s red Suburban and trailer, which were following the GMC. The impact caused the semi to catch fire and burn completely.
A front-seat passenger in the Suburban, 55-year-old Charles Oliver Jr. of Canton, was fatally injured in the crash. Authorities confirmed that all occupants appeared to have been wearing seat belts.
Emergency crews from multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Department of Transportation, Muskingum Watershed Rangers, Scio Fire/EMS, Bowerston Fire/EMS, Hopedale Fire/EMS, Tappan Fire, Jewett Fire, Deersville EMS, Uhrichsville EMS, the county Emergency Management Agency, and towing companies McAdoo’s and Blackie’s.
The crash remains under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
(Parts of this article may appear in both the Carrollton Free Press Standard and the Harrison News-Herald, where Jordan Miller serves as the editor of both papers.)
