A Maryland man is dead after jumping from an elevated section of Interstate 84 in Hartford on Monday morning to avoid a truck while he was assisting at the scene of a car crash.
State police said it was raining when Sheila Jenkins, 45, of Hartford, lost control of her Ford Explorer on the eastbound side of the highway near exit 49 just before 3 a.m., hit the barrier and the vehicle flipped.
Richard Herron, 83, of Elkton, Maryland, and two other people in a Chevrolet pickup with landscaping trailer stopped and went to assist, according to state police.
As he was helping, a tractor-trailer approached, police said. Herron did not know that there was a 35-foot drop when he jumped to avoid the truck, police said.
Herron fell to a gravel area below and suffered multiple injuries.
He was transported to St. Francis Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Jenkins suffered minor lacerations and arm pain, police said.
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State police originally said Herron suffered minor injuries when he suffered a medical emergency and fell from the highway, but they later said he jumped to avoid a truck.
Part of the highway was closed until 4:30 a.m. as police investigated.
