Teen killed in Ecton crash
Published 9:30 pm Wednesday, November 15, 2017
A Clark County teen died Tuesday night when the car he was riding in overturned and caught fire.
Dylan Fields, 16, of 348 Hill St., was pronounced dead at the scene on Ecton Road near Veterans Memorial Parkway Tuesday, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office report.
The driver of the vehicle, Johnathan Thurber of 1278 Ecton Road, told deputies he was traveling west when he swerved to avoid hitting an opossum. The Hyundai Elantra went off the edge of the road and hit a concrete culvert before overturning, landing in a creek and catching fire.
Two passersby, Nate Hall and Sam Little, pulled Thurber and front seat passenger Christy D. Richardson of 209 Buffalo Trace from the burning car, according to the report.
They told deputies the fire had fully engulfed the car when they went back, and they could not get close enough to rescue Fields.
According to the sheriff’s office, Thurber was transported to Clark Regional Medical Center with what appeared to be superficial cuts and bruises. Richardson was taken to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with a possible broken leg.
Thurber submitted to blood testing following the crash and test results are pending.
Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue Jr. said previously there would be an autopsy to determine whether Fields died from injuries in the crash or from the fire.