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Washingtonville man killed on turnpike

Struck after repairing tractor-trailer tire

NORTH LIMA — A 29-year-old Washingtonville man who had repaired a tire on a semitractor-trailer rig on the side of the Ohio Turnpike was killed early Monday. He was walking toward the rear of the semitractor-trailer to retrieve his warning triangles when he was hit by a passing utility van, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

The accident, which happened at 3:50 a.m. in Beaver Township, took place in the eastbound lanes in the North Lima area near mile post 234. The turnpike has two lanes of eastbound traffic in that area.

The patrol has yet to release the victim’s name.

The Hiram Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said Nikolas Gable, 24, of Hartville was driving the utility van in the right lane when he passed a 2022 Peterbilt semitractor-trailer that was unoccupied on the shoulder of the road. The victim was in the right lane alongside of the tractor-trailer preparing to leave when he was struck, the state patrol stated in a news release.

The utility van “side-swiped the semitractor-trailer, then struck the pedestrian that was in the road,” the patrol report states.

Nicholas Cyphert was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the state patrol.

There were no other injuries in the crash, which remains under investigation. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in the crash, the state patrol stated.

The driver of the utility truck works for a private service, the release states.

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