Columbia Man Killed In I-24 Crash Saturday Morning

Feb 02, 2013 at 09:10 pm by bryan


The Tennessee Highway Patrol has completed its investigation into the fatal Saturday morning (2/2/2013) crash on I-24 at the South Church Street exit. 41-year old Bryan M. Delk of Columbia, Tennessee died in the accident that occurred shortly before 8:30AM. 

Trooper Bennie Jennings reports that a 2008 GMC model C5500 diesel truck driven by 24-year old Jerry Price Mason of Tabor City, North Carolina, was traveling in the westbound lane of I-24 (toward Nashville). He came upon traffic that was stopped for a non-injury crash at the South Church Street exit. Mason slowed the GMC truck to a crawl. Unfortunately, Delk's 2004 Ford Federal Express van was unable to stop and slammed into the rear of the GMC.

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The THP "Vehicle Fatality Report" shows that both drivers were using safety belts. The report indicates that Jerry Mason, driver of the GMC truck, was not injured.

Traffic Stalled Due To Earlier Crash

Earlier broadcasts that police were not aware of a fatality was true. This is because the 911 call received shortly after 8:00 o'clock Saturday morning was for a different wreck. It was a multi-vehicle crash on I-24 westbound at exit 81. There were no life-threatening injuries in the first wreck.

Fatal Crash 20-Minutes Later

The fatal crash occurred approximately 20-minutes later as a result of road conditions and the traffic that was stopped for the first crash at the South Church Street exit. 

This tragic accident happened at a time when ice and snow were causing crashes throughout the area. In fact, off-duty officers and deputies were being called to work the large number of wrecks. At one point Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold asked motorists to stay at home until road conditions improved.  

Again, FedEx driver Bryan M. Delk of Columbia, Tennessee died in a Saturday morning crash on I-24. 

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