Police Say Man Was Texting Before Fatal Ohio Crash

March 6, 2013

Authorities say a northern Ohio man who died after a crash on Interstate 75 was texting while driving.

Toledo police said 51-year-old Ken Harder died Tuesday from injuries suffered in the violent crash Monday afternoon.

The Blade newspaper reports Harder was critically injured when his SUV slammed into a parked Ohio Department of Transportation maintenance truck whose workers were picking up litter on the side of I-75 north in Toledo. The truck was parked off the roadway.

Police said Tuesday they determined Harder was texting while driving.

A state worker who was hit by a side mirror was taken to a hospital but not seriously injured.

The unoccupied state truck was pushed 35 to 40 feet by the impact.