‘Stop, even if it’s to hold their hand’: Witness reflects on deadly crash involving New Carlisle man

MIAMI COUNTY — Two days after a New Carlisle man was killed in a crash at Dayton-Brandt Road and Ohio 41, people who stopped to try and save the victim are having a hard time coping with what they witnessed.

“If that was my dad, my brother or my son, I would want somebody there with them in their critical moments of life,” said Amy Inman, one of several people who stopped at the crash scene Wednesday night to help perform CPR on the victim.

Richard Blauvelt, 40, of New Carlisle, was in his car when deputies said the vehicle ran a stop sign and was broadsided by a Dodge pickup. Blauvelt died following the collision.

"Witnesses that live close to the area said the guy in the vehicle was coming north on Dayton-Brandt, and actually looked over, gave a wave, kind of a neighborly wave, and he said he never saw him hit the brakes. He went right through the stop sign right as the Dodge truck was coming through. The Dodge truck hit it square in the door," Lt. Todd Tennant of the Miami County Sheriff's Office said.

Inman said trying to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family Thursday was difficult, as she could not forget what she saw when she drove up to the crash around 5:30 p.m. Inman went to the crash site Thursday and put a lily on the ground, she said.

“I hope that somehow we can reach out to the family and bring some comfort to them,” Inman said, adding that she learned stopping to help others can provide comfort, even if you can’t save someone’s life.

She hopes it’s a lesson others will also remember if they ever see an emergency.

“Stop, even if it’s to hold their hand in their last moments of life,” Inman said.

A man who was driving the Dodge truck and a child inside the truck were not injured in the crash.

Sheriff’s deputies said driver inattention likely led to the crash, and that speed or alcohol aren’t considered factors.