New Castle man killed in Randolph County crash

MODOC - A New Castle man died in a head-on crash in Randolph County late Sunday morning along a stretch of state highway that officially had been closed to through-traffic for months.

The collision occurred around 11:15 a.m. Sunday near barricades on Ind. 1, near the intersection of Randolph County Road 700-S, according to the Randolph County Sheriff's Department. Emergency responders remained on the scene hours later, investigating the circumstances of the crash and clearing up the wreckage.

Levi D. Rose, 22, New Castle, was pronounced dead at the scene by Dewayne Petry of the Randolph County coroner's office. A passenger in the other vehicle was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie with minor injuries, but the driver of that car reportedly suffered no injuries, according to a release from the sheriff's office.

The crash happened at barricades that were already up to close the road to all but local traffic because of pavement problems along Ind. 1. The stretch of Ind. 1 between U.S. 36 in Modoc and Cabin Creek south of Farmland has been closed since March because of "severe roadbed failures" along six miles that already had been reconstructed the year before.

Despite the highway being closed to through-traffic, it has remained open to those who live along that stretch, according to an earlier announcement from the Indiana Department of Transportation; cars have simply driven around the barricades to get to the "closed" portion of the highway.

Both cars involved in Sunday morning's crash did precisely that, according to police. Kenneth G. Shockley, 65, Winchester, was southbound on Ind. 1, and had driven his Buick Enclave around the sign and barricade set atop a small incline in the road at the 700-S intersection and returned to the southbound lane. Rose, traveling north of Ind. 1, entered the southbound lane while going around the sign; the two vehicles collided head-on in the southbound lane, the sheriff's office reported.

Shockley's wife and passenger, Mary J. Shockley, was released from IU Health BMH after being treated for minor injuries.

Authorities said Farmland police removed the "black boxes" from both vehicles for further analysis by the county police and Indiana State Police crash scene investigators, according to the release.

Corey Ohlenkamp contributed to this report.