At approximately 9:20 p.m., July 27, 2017, Kearney Police Officers, Kearney Volunteer Fire Department, and Good Samaritan Paramedics were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident with injuries, in the 5100 block of 2nd Avenue, Kearney, NE.

Investigation at the scene revealed that a full-sized pickup was being driven northbound on 2nd Avenue, by a 61-year-old Buffalo County man.

The pickup struck a sign in the median at 50th Street and 2nd Avenue, near the entrance to the Kearney Hilltop Mall, before crossing into the southbound lanes of 2nd Avenue.  The truck continued to travel in a north-northwest direction before going over the west curb near Culvers.  The pickup struck a tree and then collided with two parked vehicles in the Culver’s parking lot. It continued north before colliding with the southeast corner of the Verizon store, located at 5110 2nd Avenue, where it came to rest.

The driver of the pickup was transported to CHI Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney where he was later pronounced dead. The accident is being investigated by members of the Kearney Police Department and Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department Fatality Accident Investigation Team (F.A.I.T.).

Names are not being released at this time, pending notification of kin.  An autopsy has been ordered by the Buffalo County Attorney’s Office.