A local man, who died early Monday morning after police and witnesses say the vehicle he was driving left the roadway and tumbled over a steep embankment on Fifth Street Road in Corbin, has now been identified by police.
Roger Justin Reeves, 23, of Vineview Drive in Corbin, died as a result of injuries he suffered in the crash.
The accident was reported to the Corbin 911 Dispatch Center at about 8:00 a.m. Monday. Police, EMS and fire department crews were dispatched to the scene.
Reeves was traveling north on Fifth Street Road going toward downtown Corbin when witnesses say his vehicle, a Toyota SUV, dropped off the right side of the roadway, then crossed over the opposite lane and traffic and careened over a steep embankment. Reeves was thrown from the vehicle and pinned underneath as it came to rest on its side.
"It rolled several times," said Corbin Police Officer Jim Miller who is investigating the accident. "His injuries were very severe."
Karen Nottingham, a local medical assistant, said the man was alive and had a weak pulse when she raced down the embankment to help him, but that he could not be saved.
"When I got down there part of him was underneath the car. The car was still going. I got a radial pulse on him," Nottingham said, clearly emotional from the trauma of the situation. "I was trying to talk to him and stuff and tell him it was OK we are going to get him out. Then he just a took breath and died"
Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley is also investigating the case.
