Staff Report

SOUTH BEAVER, PA.

A state trooper was killed in a two-vehicle crash today.

According to a press release from Pennsylvania State Police, Trooper First Class Blake T. Coble, 47, died after a tractor-trailer failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of state Routes 168 and 251 shortly after 10 a.m.

Police said Coble was driving a patrol car east on Route 251 when he went through an intersection and was hit on the driver’s side by the tractor-trailer, which was traveling south on Route 168.

Coble was taken to Heritage Valley Health System in Beaver where he was pronounced dead.

Coble had been a trooper since 1988, and his death is the 94th in the line of duty in state police history.

Police said the driver of the tractor-trailer was interviewed and the investigation is ongoing.