Shown above is the smashed helmet of a cyclist struck and killed by a vehicle at the intersection of Unionville Road and Route 161 Friday morning.
(Journal-Tribune photos by Jacob Runnels)
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A cyclist died Friday morning after being struck by a vehicle.
Shannon Mills, 26, of Hilliard, died while riding her bicycle at the intersection of Unionville Road and Route 161. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSP), the crash occurred at 10:21 a.m. Friday.
Lance Emberling, an investigator with the Union County Coroner’s Office, said Mills was traveling north on Unionville Road when she was hit at the intersection.
“It looked like she was one of the regular bicyclists,” Emberling said. “She had her full outfit on.”
Emberling said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:33 a.m.
The OSP report of the crash indicates that Mills failed to stop at the stop sign on Unionville Road. She was hit by a 2005 Ford Five Hundred, driven by Rusti Cottrel, 31, of Sidney. Cottrel was traveling east on Route 161, toward Plain City.
The individual who called 911 said they believed Mills was dead before emergency responders arrived on the scene.
Emberling said when medics arrived, they found Mills lying in the roadway, with her bicycle underneath the Ford, which was 200 feet away.
The OSP report states Cottrel, along with passengers Constance Baker, 65, and Brayden Ritchie, 10, both of Sidney, were transported to Dublin Methodist Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Investigators said alcohol is not suspected in the crash. All occupants of the vehicle were wearing seatbelts and Mills was wearing a helmet.
Units from OSP, as well as the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Plain City Police Department, Tri-Valley Fire and EMS and Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District, assisted at the scene.