GREENFIELD — A driver who died after crashing her car into a Greenfield home last month was under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident, officials said.
Results of a toxicology test confirmed Megan Rowe, 33, of Greenfield, had used drugs before she caused at least six car crashes in the minutes before she died Feb. 3, police said.
The final collision killed Rowe, officials said. She crashed into a home in the 500 block of North East Street in Greenfield, causing severe damage to the structure’s foundation and displacing the family that had lived there for more than 30 years.
Investigators said they believe Rowe caused five minor hit-and-run accidents along State Street in Greenfield on Feb. 3 before her vehicle struck the house near the heart of the city.
Rowe suffered internal blunt force trauma injuries in the accident, which ultimately caused her death, an autopsy revealed. Toxicology test also were performed on Rowe’s body. They confirmed investigators’ suspicions that the woman had been driving under the influence when the accident occurred.
Rowe did not have enough drugs in her system to have overdosed, Hancock County Coroner David Stillinger said. Officials were not able to confirm what substances Rowe had consumed, he said.
Police were called to Hancock Regional Hospital just before noon Feb. 3, where a 911 caller reported a white pickup truck had hit another car in the hospital parking lot before fleeing the area, heading south on State Street, officials said.
In the minutes that followed that initial report, county 911 dispatchers received several more calls about a vehicle with the same description driving erratically. Several callers reported having their cars struck by the pickup truck, though no one was injured.
Rowe collided with the home on North East Street about two minutes after the original 911 call was received, police said.
Rowe was unresponsive when first-responders arrived, officials said. They were not able to revive her, and she was later pronounced dead at Hancock Regional Hospital, officials said.
One person was in the home at the time of the accident, but she was uninjured, officials said.
The toxicology results conclude the Greenfield Police Department’s probe into the accidents Rowe was involved in. Detectives will continue to investigate where the woman might have purchased the drugs she used before she died, Lt. Randy Ratliff said.
Whenever a resident’s death is discovered to be substance-related, police do their best to track down the dealer who supplied the drugs, Ratliff said.
Anyone with information is asked to call 317-477-4410.
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Anyone with information about what happened prior to the fatal accident is asked to call the Greenfield Police Department, 317-477-4410.
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