Update: Centre County coroner releases more info on fatal crash in Potters Mills Gap
One person died Thursday morning after a one-vehicle crash in the western end of the Potters Mills Gap project on U.S. Route 322, a deputy Centre County coroner said.
A tractor-trailer hauling metal crashed about 7:25 a.m. Thursday in the 3000 block of General Potter Highway, Centre Hall Volunteer Fire Company Chief Brian Tice said.
Samuel Bellaman, 61, of Lebanon County, failed to negotiate a left-hand curve, drove into a guardrail for about 500 feet and the vehicle overturned down an embankment, state police at Rockview wrote in a crash report. He died at the scene.
An autopsy completed Thursday revealed no fatal traumatic injuries, Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers wrote in a press release.
Bellaman’s cause of death was ruled “pending toxicology and microscopic tissue analysis,” which is expected to take four to six weeks, Sayers wrote.
Traffic was slowed or stopped for several hours, according to the state Department of Transportation, which urged drivers to choose alternate routes to avoid delays.
Crews began to set beams this week on what will be the new Route 322 roadway. Crews completed the beam-setting work Thursday, but the crash put it slightly behind schedule for the day, PennDOT said.
Boalsburg fire police, Penns Valley EMS and Bowersox Towing also responded to the crash.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 8:29 AM.
