BATH TOWNSHIP — A Bluffton man was killed Saturday evening when his pickup truck left Sandusky Road, struck a parked car, overturned several times and hit two trees, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Lima Post, whose release was reported by WLIO and The Lima News.
Troopers identified the driver as Nathan Ulrey, 46, of Bluffton. The patrol’s Lima Post responded to the single-vehicle crash on Sandusky Road in Bath Township, Allen County, at about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 7, according to the patrol’s release.
Ulrey was driving a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado west on Sandusky Road when the truck traveled off the right side of the roadway, the patrol said. The Silverado struck a parked car, overturned several times, and struck two trees. Ulrey was not wearing his safety belt and was ejected from the vehicle, according to the patrol.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene. Allen County Mortuary Services transported him to the Montgomery County Morgue, the patrol said. The Silverado sustained severe damage and was towed from the scene by A and D Towing.
Bath Township Fire, Bath Township EMS, the Allen County Coroner’s Office, and Allen County Mortuary Services assisted troopers at the scene, according to the patrol’s release.
The crash remains under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which has not released what caused the pickup to leave the roadway. In its release, the patrol reminded motorists to always wear a seat belt — a point troopers underscored by noting Ulrey was unrestrained and ejected in the crash.
Ejection is among the deadliest outcomes in a rollover crash, and troopers across Ohio point to crashes like this one when they urge drivers and passengers to buckle up on every trip, including short drives on familiar rural roads. The patrol has not said whether speed, impairment, or a mechanical issue played any role in Saturday’s crash, and investigators typically need days to reconstruct a fatal rollover before reaching conclusions.
Sandusky Road runs through the largely rural Bath Township east of Lima, in the northwest Ohio county of Allen. Bluffton, Ulrey’s hometown, sits about 15 miles northeast of the crash scene, straddling the Allen–Hancock county line.
Photo: Raymond Wambsgans, CC BY-SA 2.0