Multi-vehicle crash on 96th Street leaves one man dead

At 5:32 p.m. this past Friday, the Carmel Police and Fire departments responded to a crash involving four vehicles in the area of 96th Street and Copley Drive.

Based upon the preliminary investigation, it appears a westbound Mercedes struck another westbound vehicle that was stopped in traffic. The impact sent the Mercedes into oncoming eastbound traffic where it struck a Lexus sedan head-on.

A passenger in the Lexus, Stephen Zimmerman, 79, Indianapolis, was transported to the hospital, but was pronounced deceased upon arrival. The driver of the Lexus was also transported to the hospital with serious injuries, but those person’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The Carmel Fire Department had to extract multiple victims from their vehicles and transported two additional victims to the hospital with minor injuries. A fifth victim was treated and released at the scene.

The road was closed for several hours while the Carmel Police Accident Investigation Team worked the scene. That agency will conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the crash.

All patients were transported to Ascension St. Vincent’s 86th Street Hospital. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be a factor in the crash.