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Iowa deputy killed in crash with harvest combine
The combine was wider than the lane and partially across the center line, investigators said
Duty Death: Austin "Melvin" Richardson - [Fremont County, Iowa]
End of Service: 06/14/2022
By Suzie Ziegler
FREMONT COUNTY, Iowa — The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is mourning a deputy who died Tuesday in a crash involving a harvest combine, KETV reported.
Deputy Austin "Melvin" Richardson, 37, was driving his patrol car when he collided with a combine traveling from the opposite direction, according to KETV.
A report from the Iowa State Patrol determined the combine was wider than the lane on Highway 275. The combine’s front left tire was “to left of center in the northbound lane” when Richardson hit it, causing the deputy’s vehicle to “skid sideways and roll several times,” the report said.
Richardson began his law enforcement career in 2007 and joined the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office in 2015, according to the Des Moines Register. The crash remains under investigation.
🔹 Blessed Are The Peacemakers 🔹
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) June 16, 2022
Deputy Sheriff Austin "Melvin" Richardson
Fremont County Sheriff's Office, Iowa
EOW: Tuesday, June 14, 2022#EnoughIsEnough #OfficerDown #EOW #ThinBlueLine pic.twitter.com/hXnOAe86tc
crashed into a combine. The combine was across the center line when Deputy Richardson collided with it in Tuesdays fatal crash. pic.twitter.com/p1iOaSXGX5
— Council Bluffs Scanner (@CBScanner) June 16, 2022
WATCH: Sheriff's deputy Austin Melvin Richardson was honored in his hometown Hamburg, Iowa Wednesday. @Brandon_Tvrdy reports.
— 6 News WOWT (@WOWT6News) June 16, 2022
Details: https://t.co/Lw5PIegmSZ pic.twitter.com/wC4zwlLy7U
