GRATIS, Ohio — The Ohio State Highway Patrol has released its findings of a head-on crash in Preble County that left a deputy and another man dead on Dec. 18.
The crash happened on state Route 503 in Gratis Township around 4:10 a.m. OSHP says 34-year-old deputy Joshua Hamilton who was working road patrol, was heading southbound in a marked cruiser while 36-year-old Michael Gayhart II was heading northbound.
The two vehicles collided head-on.
Troopers found that Hamilton was heading northbound one minute before the fatal crash. Dashcam footage from the deputy’s cruiser shows a vehicle passing him southbound at what appeared to be above the posted speed limit.
Hamilton turned around in a residential driveway and attempted to catch up to the southbound vehicle. A short time later, his cruiser goes left of center as he enters the curve just north of Ray Road, where the crash happened, according to OSHP.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene. There were no passengers in either vehicle.
The crash remains under investigation, OSHP said.
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