HANCOCK COUNTY — A teenager died Wednesday afternoon when the pickup he was riding in collided with farm equipment in eastern Hancock County.
The accident happened about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of county roads 900N and 750E. A pickup truck driven by Eastern Hancock High School student R.W. Locker was headed westbound on County Road 900N when it struck a large crop sprayer that had pulled into the intersection.
The impact crushed the truck’s right passenger area, where fellow student Riley Settergren, 17, was riding.
Emergency responders at the scene initially called for a medical helicopter in hopes Settergren — a senior at Eastern Hancock — could be transported to an Indianapolis hospital; they called off the request, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Locker and another passenger in the truck — Landon Stanley, also a student at Eastern Hancock — were taken to an Indianapolis hospital to be treated for minor injuries, police said.
They were expected to make full recoveries, officials said.
The driver of the crop sprayer, local farmer Joe Mohr, was not injured. Investigators say they believe he pulled out in front of the truck, according to Hancock County sheriff’s deputies at the scene of the crash.
The accident remains under investigation by the Hancock County Fatal Accident Crash team.
County Roads 750E and 900N were closed for several hours while officers cleared debris and took measurements to reconstruct the accident.
Eastern Hancock school officials sent out an emergency notice to district families alerting them to the loss in the hours after the wreck.
Settergren, a Wilkinson resident, was a member of the track and football teams and a member of the Country Critters 4-H Club.
Grief counselors were called to Eastern Hancock High School on Wednesday afternoon to provide support for students and staff. The first day of school for Eastern Hancock students is Wednesday.
