By Holly Zachariah
The Columbus Dispatch
JOHNSTOWN, Ohio — A Utica man died Friday after he lost control of his Chevrolet Impala on Rt. 62 in Licking County, went left-of-center and collided with an oncoming semi.
The State Highway Patrol said Charles McNabb, 49, was speeding westbound on the highway, east of Johnstown, when he lost control and caused the 9:18 a.m. crash.
McNabb, who the patrol said was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. The patrol did not estimate a speed.
Delaware County commissioners later put out a statement that said McNabb was a 19-year veteran paramedic with Delaware County EMS. He was off-duty at the time of the crash.
He reportedly was speeding to get to his teenage son, who sources say fell through a window at Johnstown Performing Arts Center, at the high school. The boy is expected to be OK after being treated at a Columbus hospital.
Delaware Cty medic killed in Rt 62 crash. Sources say he was on way to hospital after son hurt in accident @wsyx6 pic.twitter.com/hrv5RManTk
— Lu Ann Stoia (@stoiawsyx6) February 5, 2016
The truck driver, 23-year-old Kevin Cooper of Columbus, was not injured.
A fuel spill and cleanup kept the road closed between Sportsman Club and Crouse-Willison roads for hours.
That stretch of road has been targeted since January by law enforcement because of concerns that it’s a high-crash area. The county has seen seven fatal crashes on Rt. 62 in the past three years, averaging three fatal crashes per year in the past two years. The most recent fatal crash prior to this one happened in nearly the same spot on Dec. 16.
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©2016 The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)