CLINTON COUNTY, Ohio — One of two people killed in a crash on Interstate 71 was an elected official in Warren County, according to the elections board director in Warren County, The Journal-News reported.
Karen Stutrud, 63, of Oregonia, Ohio, was the fiscal officer in Washington Township, elections director Brian Sleeth said. She and one other person died Tuesday after a three-vehicle crash on I-71 in Clinton County, about 10 miles north of the Jeremiah Morrow Bridge.
The crash shut down the interstate in both directions for hours. One of the other drivers, 55-year-old Timothy Brown Sr., of Lewisburg, Tenn., also was killed.
Stutrud was running for re-election in November. Her current term runs through March 31. Sleeth indicated the trustees would likely appoint a replacement and call a special election to replace her.
The crash occurred about 2:36 p.m. when a southbound semitrailer driven by 43-year-old Sam Hussein, of Columbus, suffered a blowout of the left front tire, the Ohio State Highway Patrol Wilmington Post said. That blowout sent the Freightliner across the median and into northbound traffic.
Hussein’s semi struck a sedan and another semi head-on, killing Stutrud, who was driving a Mercury Sable, and Brown, who was driving the other semi. Hussein and his passenger, 76-year-old Mohamud Mohamed, of Columbus, suffered non-life threatening injuries and were taken by ambulance to Clinton Memorial Hospital.
Northbound I-71 reopened just after 11 p.m., ODOT reported. The southbound lanes reopened just after 6:30 p.m., according to ODOT.
No impairment is suspected, according to state patrol investigators, and all drivers were wearing seat belts.
The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO.
