NAPOLEON, IN — Former Osgood Town Council president and assistant fire chief Norman Kappes was killed in a two-vehicle crash that happened just after 9 am Saturday on US 421 just south of Napoleon.
Indiana State Police say a 2000 Jeep driven by the 53-year-old Kappes was northbound on 421 just south of Michigan Road when, for an unknown reason, Kappes’ vehicle crossed the centerline into the path of a 2015 Kenworth dump truck driven by 49-year-old Timothy M. Sides of Versailles. The dump truck was owned by the Ripley County Highway Department.
The vehicles collided nearly head-on in the southbound lanes of US 421.
Kappes was killed in the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sides was not injured.
US 421 was closed for about five hours for the crash investigation and cleanup.
The investigation is ongoing. Alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors although toxicology tests on both drivers are pending.
ISP Master Trooper Daniel Elmore from the Versailles Post is the lead investigator. He was assisted at the scene by the Indiana State Police-Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team, the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, Ripley County EMS, the Napoleon Volunteer Fire Department, the Ripley County Coroner’s Office, TDS Towing, and AJ’s Auto Body.
