Richland Avenue accident victim was an OU student.
Athens Police have released information on the accident that took place Tuesday morning on Richland Avenue between an SUV and a pedestrian.
The report, compiled by Athens Police officer Tom Withers, confirmed that a white 1994 General Motors Jimmy SUV lost its brakes heading south on Richland Avenue, hitting 19-year-old OU student Diandra Balog while she was in the center of the crosswalk.
Balog was taken to O’Bleness Hospital with “non-incapacitating” injuries by Athens County Emergency Medical Services, according to the report.
The vehicle was driven by 34-year-old New Marshfield resident David Treptow and had one passenger, 28-year-old Mistee Treptow. Treptow said he swerved to the left in order to avoid hitting the cars that were stopped in his lane and honked his horn to alert pedestrians.
The vehicle drove past the crosswalk, running over the “stop for pedestrians in crosswalk” sign before hitting Balog.
The report also said that a brake check was performed on the vehicle, which confirmed that the brakes had been defective.
“This was a vehicle equipment failure,” APD Chief Tom Pyle said. “This was not a failure of any traffic design.”
Neither the driver nor the passenger in the SUV reported any injuries.
@wtperkins
wp198712@ohio.edu
