Accident cause said non-criminal

Brandon Reynolds, 27, driver of the pickup truck involved in the accident which took the lives of an Albion couple Friday, July 16 on the Pullman-Albion Road will be cited for failure to yield to oncoming traffic, Sheriff Brett Myers reported Thursday, July 22. He said their investigation of the accident determined it was caused by a failure to comply with basic traffic rules and not from any criminal negligence or other factors which constitute criminal behavior.

Sheriff Myers said a portable breath test was administered to Reynolds at the scene of the accident and the results were negative. He said officers did not believe they had probable cause to request a blood sample be drawn from Reynolds.

William Russell, 55, and his wife Kathleen Russell, 59, were riding a 2005 Harley Davidson motorcycle eastbound on the Pullman-Albion road just west of Highway 27 when Reynolds turned a 2008 Ford pickup truck in front of them. Both died from injuries sustained in accident.

The sheriff said Reynolds told investigations officers he became intent on locating the private driveway where he was supposed to go and failed to see the oncoming motorcycle.