Danville man killed by downed power lines at crash scene

Thursday, April 3, 2025 at 10:07 AM

By Staff report

Contact with downed power lines following a crash caused a fatality in Hendrick County Tuesday.

About 9:30 p.m., Hendricks County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a possible personal injury crash on CR 75 W, north of CR 200 S, in Danville.

When deputies arrived, they observed several downed power lines in the area blocking the roadway due to the storm. They also observed a vehicle, a 2007 Dodge pickup, on fire near the east edge of the roadway with an unresponsive person on the ground near the vehicle. Due to the live power lines down in the area, the deputies and other rescue personnel could not approach and contacted the power company to respond and cut the power. After the power was shut off, rescue personnel approached the unresponsive driver of the vehicle who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Hendricks County Sheriff's Office says it appears that the vehicle was northbound on CR 75 W when it struck downed power lines in the roadway and came to a stop on the east side of the roadway. At some point, the driver exited the vehicle and came into contact with the live power lines.

The deceased driver was identified as Nathan Merritt, 27,of Danville.

The investigation is still ongoing at this time