MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — An Alabama Law Enforcement Agency crash report detailed the events that led up to a deadly July 1 crash.
News 19 obtained the ALEA crash report from the deadly wreck that killed Hank Ross Hornbuckle, 44, of New Hope.
The report says that Huntsville Public Works Director Christopher McNeese was the driver of the vehicle involved in the crash. It says the vehicle was traveling northbound on U.S. 231 “too fast for the heavy rainfall and wet roadways as well as limited visibility due to the rain.”
ALEA’s crash report says that as the vehicle started going down the road, it traveled through water across the roadway, hydroplaned and McNeese lost control of the vehicle.
The document says the vehicle then “began sliding out of control, crossing both the unpaved median and southbound lanes of U.S. 231,” before overturning as it slid off the embankment and hit the ditch.
During the crash, the report says that Hornbuckle was totally ejected from the vehicle and was killed.
The report said the vehicle then continued to overturn and hit a tree before finally stopping. When interviewed about the incident, McNeese told law enforcement that he “topped the hill heading north and as he started down the hill, he must have run through water, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.” The document states that he said he remembered running off the roadway, but could not provide any further details of the crash.
McNeese was injured and taken to Huntsville Hospital and Donal Dowdy, another City employee, was also injured and taken to the hospital.
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