Wednesday, January 27, 1999
School technician dies in crash
Other driver listed as fair
BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP — A Butler County school district employee was killed and another man was hurt in a two-vehicle crash on Ohio 4 here Monday night.
Paul E. Brown, 47, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., was pronounced dead at the scene at Ohio 4 and Kyles Station Road.
Mr. Brown had worked since November as a computer support technician among 250 staff members who serve the 4,800 students of the Butler County Joint Vocational School and its satellite programs, said Superintendent Joseph Lupo.
In January 1998, the district dealt with the sudden death of another staff member, teacher Stephanie Stein, 36, of West Chester, who died from a bacterial infection. Against that backdrop, the news of Mr. Brown's death seems especially upsetting to students and staff, Mr. Lupo said Tuesday.
“He hadn't been with us that long but he made quite an impact, in terms of what he was able to do,” Mr. Lupo said. “He was a very welcome addition ... He'll really be missed, I know that, because the type of person he was and the things he was able to do.”
A medical helicopter flew Michael L. Hamilton, 38, of Fairfield, to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Hamilton, a production worker at Hamilton Die Cast Inc., was listed in fair condition Tuesday afternoon.
Although Mr. Hamilton wasn't wearing a seat belt, an air bag may have helped save his life or at least minimize his injuries, said Butler County Sheriff's Capt. G. Michael Grimes.
Mr. Brown also was not wearing a seat belt, Capt. Grimes said. But the impact was so severe, “a seat belt wouldn't have made a difference” in Mr. Brown's situation, Capt. Grimes said.
Mr. Hamilton was driving his 1998 Ford pickup truck north on Ohio 4 when Mr. Brown pulled his 1988 Dodge Caravan out of Kyles Station Road. The pickup hit the van so hard the driver's side door was smashed to within a foot of the passenger's side door, Capt. Grimes said.
“I think this was about the worst side-impact crash I've ever seen,” said Capt. Grimes, a police officer for 24 years.
Investigators were unable to say just how fast each vehicle may have been traveling at the time of the crash.
Capt. Grimes said alcohol use hadn't been ruled out for either driver. As of late Tuesday afternoon, no charges had been filed.
Police weren't sure where the drivers were heading to or from at the time of the crash, Capt. Grimes said.
Mr. Brown left school around 5 p.m. Monday, Mr. Lupo said. School officials didn't know where he spent the next four hours, until he showed up at a gas station near the crash site. There, he found he had locked his keys inside his van and had to break the window to get back inside, Mr. Lupo said.
The crash happened shortly thereafter, around 9:30 p.m.
Services for Mr. Brown are set for 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Markland Denney Funeral Home in Rising Sun, Ind., where calling hours will be 5-8 p.m. Thursday.
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