Crime & Safety
WATCH: Dump Truck Fatality in the Valley
Witnesses describe driver's heroic attempt to avoid hitting cars or people.
A dump truck speeding down Portage Trail with apparently failing brakes resulted in the death of the driver. As of 1 p.m. recovery was still under way at the crash site.
Witnesses said the driver frantically blared his horn as the truck sped through the intersection of Portage Trail and Akron-Peninsula Road, entered the parking lot of the Valley Centre and veered left, somehow avoiding hitting anything until the truck clipped a tree along the bank then dove into the Cuyahoga River.
The cab of the truck was almost entirely submerged. It was unknown whether the driver was conscious as the truck sank.
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Witnesses called but by the time help arrived, it was clear that he couldn't be saved.
Witness Karla Maple, who works nearby, said the driver really sacrificed himself to avoid colliding with any cars, buildings or people.
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