Two dead, including teen, in head-on crash in Overland Park, police say
Two people, including a teenage boy, died in a head-on crash Saturday afternoon in Overland Park, and police are looking for a driver who may have caused the wreck.
The crash happened at 3:23 p.m. on 151st Street near Stearns Street.
Officer John Lacy, a police spokesman, initially said preliminary investigation showed an eastbound vehicle had crossed the median and struck the front end of another vehicle.
According to a police news release issued later Saturday night, two vehicles were traveling eastbound on 151st Street when one of the vehicles struck the driver side rear panel of a vehicle driven by a 20-year-old man.
The man’s vehicle spun out of control, went over the median, brushed against a westbound vehicle and then struck another westbound vehicle head on, killing both drivers.
The drivers, an 18-year-old from Overland Park and a 20-year-old man from Kansas City, Kan., were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names have not yet been released by authorities.
The 18-year-old was a student at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, according to a statement issued late Saturday night by the school’s president, David Laughlin. The school identified the student as Matthew Bloskey.
“The Rockhurst High School community is devastated by the loss of one of our seniors, Matthew Bloskey,” Laughlin said in a statement. “As a community of faith, we join now in support of his parents and siblings, family, friends and classmates trusting in Matthew’s eternal reward with Christ. In the days ahead we will care for our students and Matthew’s family with all the strength of our great community at Rockhurst. We appreciate the prayerful support of others at this time.”
Police said the first vehicle that struck the 20-year-old man’s vehicle left the scene.
“We understand that there was another vehicle that was present. We don’t know if they were racing or if there was some type of road rage incident that occurred while they were traveling eastbound, but we’re trying to sort that out at this time,” Lacy said.
The vehicle police are seeking was described as a dark blue or dark gray Honda minivan. Police released surveillance images of the suspect vehicle in an effort to identify the driver.
Police believe speed was a factor in the deadly crash.
Part of 151st Street was expected to remain closed until late Saturday night as police continued the investigation.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Overland Park Traffic Safety Unit at 913-912-2164 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
As officers were responding to the fatal wreck, authorities said an Overland Park police officer was involved in a separate crash.
Johnson County Deputy Claire Canaan, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said a driver in an SUV hit the side of the police vehicle at 151st Street and Switzer Road. The driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. The officer was not injured.
This story was originally published October 6, 2018 at 7:02 PM.