Five-Vehicle Crash Involving Sheriff’s Detective Responding to Drowning Call Closes Intersection

Five-Vehicle Crash Involving Sheriff’s Detective Responding to Drowning Call Closes Intersection

ASHLAND COUNTY, OH – Emergency responders from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, Ashland Fire Department & EMS, and Ashland Police Division were dispatched to a chain-reaction crash at the intersection of U.S. Route 42 and County Road 1302 Thursday morning.

The collision occurred at approximately 9:25 a.m. on June 12, 2025, when a 2013 Hyundai Sonata, driven by 23-year-old Nicole Blythe of Ashland, entered the intersection from County Road 1302 and struck a northbound 2018 Ford Explorer operated by Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Detective Mark Jump.

Detective Jump, a member of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, was responding with lights and siren activated to an emergency report of a drowning in northern Ashland County when the crash occurred.

The impact caused a multi-vehicle crash. After Blythe’s Hyundai collided with Jump’s unmarked vehicle, causing Jump’s vehicle to strike two other vehicles that were stopped at the intersection in the southbound lane of US Route 42: a white 2024 Honda Pilot driven by Robin Miller, 55, of Genoa, and a blue 2019 Ford Flex driven by Mary Dalton, 70, of Nova. Dalton’s vehicle was then pushed into a white 2016 Ford Transit van driven by Erin Bauer, 36, of West Salem.

Fortunately, all injuries reported at the scene were considered non-life-threatening.

Blythe was cited for failure to yield the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle. According to Ohio law, drivers are required to yield to public safety vehicles operating under emergency conditions by immediately pulling over and remaining stopped until the emergency vehicle has passed.

Authorities remind drivers that the law includes any emergency vehicle with activated sirens and flashing lights — including those operated by law enforcement responding to critical incidents.

Secondary Crash Caused by Traffic Diversion

While crews worked to clear the wreckage and manage detoured traffic, a second crash occurred on the U.S. Route 250 bypass at Cleveland Avenue. A blue pickup truck and a white SUV collided amid the congestion. Details on this secondary crash were not immediately available, but no serious injuries were reported.

The initial crash remains under investigation by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Traffic in the area was delayed for nearly an hour as crews worked to reopen the intersection.