The motorist who was involved in Sunday’s fatal crash on Kokomo’s near south side told officers she “cut her turn” a bit sharply prior to colliding with a mo-ped.
The mo-ped’s rider, Michael E. Martin, 56, Kokomo, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Howard County coroner.
According to the police accident report, Janice M. Anthony, 63, was driving east on Virginia Street, when she turned left into the alley just west of the City of Firsts Community Federal Credit Union, 1120 S. Main St.
Capt. Brian Thompson said Anthony and Martin appeared to have arrived at the same point — a few feet from the alley entrance — at exactly the same moment.
Both Anthony and Martin tested negative for alcohol, but the fatal crash still was under investigation Monday.
A witness who lives in a nearby apartment told police the mo-ped was traveling at a high rate of speed down the alley before the crash.
And Anthony “admitted she’d cut the corner short,” Thompson said Monday.
Because a house sits on the northwest corner of the intersection, “it’s kind of hard to see around [the corner] unless you make a full stop,” Thompson said.
Anthony also told police she’d mistaken the accelerator for the brake pedal when she did see the mo-ped coming.
Martin died of blunt force trauma to the chest, after falling beneath Anthony’s Jeep and being dragged about 10 yards.
But the neighbor’s eyewitness testimony made it difficult for police to determine how much time Anthony would have had to avoid the mo-ped.
The impact occurred “with the first 3 to 5 feet where you’d turn into the alley,” Thompson said.
Anyone with information concerning the incident is asked to call the Kokomo Police Hotline at 765-456-7017, or Central Indiana Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
• Kokomo Tribune staff writer Scott Smith may be reached at 765-454-8569.
