Woman airlifted, three others injured, in Waterworks Hill crash
A Greencastle woman had to be extricated and flown to an Indianapolis hospital following a two-vehicle crash on Waterworks Hill shortly after noon on Monday.
A Crawfordsville man and two children in his car were taken to Putnam County Hospital by ambulance.
Multiple emergency agencies were dispatched to Waterworks Hill at 12:04 p.m. for what was described as a serious crash with one overturned vehicle.
Lt. Donnie Pettit of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department reported that 18-year-old Shellby Hook was northbound up the hill in the passing lane of U.S. 231 in a 2005 Toyota Scion when she lost control for an unknown reason.
The vehicle rotated counterclockwise and began to cross the southbound lane, entering the path of a southbound 2014 Dodge Dart driven by 30-year-old Joshua Beauchamp of Crawfordsville.
Pettit said Beauchamp veered to the right in an attempt to avoid a collision but could not, as he broadsided Hook’s vehicle in the passenger door area.
Both vehicles came to rest in the ditch on the west side of the road, with Beauchamp’s vehicle on its roof.
Hook was extricated from her vehicle and airlifted to Indianapolis by a St. Vincent StatFlight helicopter, which had already been called to a landing area at the Putnam County Fairgrounds.
Beauchamp and his two passengers, a three-year-old and a four-year-old, were taken to Putnam County Hospital.
As of late Monday afternoon, Pettit did not have an update on any of their conditions.
Officers are also still unclear on what caused Hook to lose control.
“It’s too early to tell what happened,” Pettit said. “We just know that she lost control and that’s it for now.”
Although temperatures were below freezing at the time, there was no precipitation in the area on Monday.
Besides Pettit and other sheriff’s deputies, the Greencastle Fire Department, Putnam County Operation Life and Indiana State Police responded to the scene.
Indiana Department of Transportation crews were also called to shut down U.S. 231 from the fairgrounds to north of the hill. The closure remained in place for about an hour.